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$ AMOUNT OF DUES (Individuals and/or Families)
Monthly member meetings are held:
Day of the week each month
Time
Meeting site address

===================================================================

____ New membership _____ Renewal ______ Family $ _______ Individual $________

PLEASE PRINT

Name:______________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________

City:_______________________ State: Zipcode:_______

Phone: ( ) ________________________________

Email:______________________________________________________________

Membership / Renewal application and dues may be paid at a regular member meeting, or mailed to:

Name of Beekeeping Assn.
c/o Treasurer (List name)
mailing address

You may want to add the benefits of membership, i.e. members receive the monthly email newsletter, participation at all MEMBER ASSN. activities, etc.

————————————————————————————————-

For Treasurer
Date Paid____________ ______ Check # Cash________ Paypal________

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As more people become aware of the role of pollinators, legislators are facing citizen proposals to change the way they classify, and manage lawns and public spaces. One of the targets of change is a group of plants called “weeds.” Weeds are defined as “plants that are not valued where they are growing” and “usually have a vigorous growth.” Combined with a post WWII nationwide movement to have green carpet-like lawns, communities adopted a range of laws that encouraged manicured green spaces at the cost of plant diversity. Some also prohibited where property owners could grow what plants, such as vegetable beds on front lawns.

Research confirms those expanses of green are barren of any contributions back to the ecosystem and are expensive and high maintenance. There are an estimated 40 to 50 million acres of lawn in the US: 40% is residential lawns, 20% lines roadsides, and about 3% is on golf courses. As more land gets developed, there will be a decrease in available food species pollinators depend on, contributing to their decline and extinction. It may also affect us. One out of every three bites of healthy food we eat is courtesy of pollinators.

How to Make Changes
Making legislative changes can be challenging. Besides going against accepted practices, new laws can inadvertently impact others. I know what it’s like to be on both sides of those proposals. For many years I made a number of suggestions to our local government for non-profits I started, beginning with an animal shelter in 1979. Then for 8 years I sat on that same government entity listening to others make their proposed changes and improvements. In 2015, I worked with a Missouri State Beekeepers Association team to change Missouri’s honey labelling laws.
The good news is the process is the same; the challenge is finding out who to know and who supports the concept you are proposing.

The following are some of my suggestions on how to prepare yourself, and take on, making changes. These principles will work for the various levels of government with the focus on your local government.

Do your homework.
You are going to be the “voice’ of the proposed change you want made. You need to know as much, if not more, of anyone about every aspect of the proposal. You will need to:

• Research and know your local ordinances. Check with your city clerk to get a good starting point.
• Understand how your local governing body operates.
• Know your state laws and how they impact your community.
• Identify the alternative(s) you want.
• Make sure your alternative(s) will “fit” your community.
• Take photos to “show” the change you want made. Better yet, have a demonstration of what you are proposing. Some people are not exposed to alternatives so make it easy for them to understand what you are proposing. Something visual is much easier to understand than a long description.
• Remember to do an inventory of your own practices. If you yourself are not following what you propose it won’t take much to defeat it.

Identify who will challenge proposed changes.
Knowing who may oppose you may help you assess how difficult, or easy, it will be to make the changes you are proposing. Who may be opposed and why?

Start with the most impacted. How do the neighbors feel about the proposed changes, are they supportive of your efforts? One of the easiest steps you can take is to set up a demonstration somewhere – your own property or a local nearby school or vacant property. Put up signs explaining what you are doing. A number of national groups offer attractive signs that can be part of your effort to educate people. You will also find a percentage of people who don’t understand.

Education is the best approach before you make a proposal; enlisting the support of well-respected community members can help increase understanding and backing. Another group will be opposed because the change impacts them directly. If you can substantiate how your proposal will benefit them – less work, less cost, possible voter support – you will get the attention of this group.

A percentage of opposition will be from people who don’t like change. Set those names aside because you may have enough support to get your proposal approved without them. In general, people who don’t like change are a tough group to convince otherwise.

Once you have identified your opponents, prepare how you will address their concerns. Is there someone else who can talk to them besides you? Do you have arguments to address their concerns? As with a lot of things in life, it’s who you know who can make a difference.

How does your government work.
Spend extra time getting to know how your government works and how proposals get reviewed and approved.
Discuss with city government officials one on one.
Identify their concerns and note how you will address them.
Address their concerns in your one-page summary.
Check with other groups that have approach your government to make changes; learn from their experience and follow their advice.

Identify who may support changes.
Just as important as knowing your opponents, you need to identify those individuals and groups who will support you. You may need to call on them to help you with your proposal. Are they

• Neighbors?
• City officials?
• Community groups?

If they look like the same groups that could be opposed, they could be. It is up to you to know who the principal influences and decision-makers are and where key individuals stand. The more you know about the critical players in these groups, the more successful you will be getting your proposal approved.

Prepare yourself.
You need to know your proposal so well that you are talking about it in your sleep.
Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself:

• Develop a one page summary of issue/proposed solution. Include photos!
• Practice an elevator speech, which is a 15-second, easy to understand pitch. What are you proposing and why?
• Practice a media interview. Who/what/where/when/why/withwhom/how much. Keep your answers short. Summarize.

Depending on other factors, such as when your supporters can help, set up a contact calendar. Making changes can take time. Having a calendar will keep you focused and help you make the meetings and other events that will require your time.

Once you feel you are ready, set up your list of potential contacts.

Rally supporters.
The first names on your contact list should be your supporters.

Neighbors ok? Make sure to have their support. Pass out one page summary copies to them. Get them organized and ready to help you with emails, attending meetings, making phone calls, answering questions.

Talk to other support groups. Identified other groups that agree with you? Ask them to attend/email and show support. Some groups pass resolutions showing their collective support of proposals. Depending on your timeline, get on their schedule to debate and vote on your proposal.

One of the more popular approaches to show support is to circulate petitions. Don’t focus on numbers; make sure the signatures are from people who understand the issue and truly support it.

Make your case/presentation.
Ready to make your proposal? Know what the meeting rules are and follow them:

• Pass out one page summary of issue/proposed solution (with photos)
• Listen to discussion; take notes on who is supporting you.
• Encourage support groups to attend meetings with you.
• Observe time limits.
• Dress professionally.
• Follow-up one on one with supporters.
• Track your issue.

Be ready to work with media.
Sometimes there is a tendency to go straight to media with an issue. I recommend you talk to potential supporters and voters first. Sometimes getting media support can appear as pressuring a governmental entity and that can strain the working relationship.

On the other hand, most government meetings have local media attending. If you don’t know who they are before you attend the meeting, introduce yourself during a meeting break and get their names and contact information. Be ready to provide yours.

• Give media your one-page summary of issue/proposed solution (with photos)
• Be prepared to answer questions.
• If you don’t know, say so, then follow up with the information they requested.

Track your proposal.
One presentation will not usually do it so you need to shepherd your presentation. Keep your calendar updated and follow up on any requests for information.

• Follow-up with elected supporters. Ask them for their help and thank them along the way. Keep asking what happens next.
• Count your votes. Know how many votes you need and where you are in getting those votes.
• Be patient with the process but keep after it.
• Provide updates; keep answering questions and keep in contact with your supporters.

With time, and persistence, you should be able to make the change you want made.

Charlotte Ekker Wiggins has a master’s degree in management from Webster University. She was elected to her 25,000 population city government from 1999-2007. She is the author of “Bee Club Basics or How to Start a Bee Club,” a management guide for local bee clubs available on Amazon. More info at www.charlotteekkerwiggins.com.

The post Changing Laws To Support Pollinators appeared first on Lead For Pollinators.

                                       PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS DANGER: Corrosive; causes irreversible eye damage. May be fatal if absorbed though the skin. Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing. Avoid breathing vapor or spray mist.

My husband was wearing shorts and sandals, with none of the protective, PPE, or knowledge of the safety recommendations or environmental hazards of the product.

I began researching and downloading studies from the internet. These are available for anyone to read. The damage to human health has been researched by M.D.s and Ph.D.s. The results have been published in medical journals. I took my large binder of these studies with me when I met with the Executive Director of our local children’s museum. My concern was, not only the honey bees that the museum kept with indoor viewing, but the danger to the children’s exposure to the lawn chemicals that were being applied.

After discussing the original lawn, Dutch white clover mixed with grass seed, Jeff Mehn informed me he only liked just grass. It was what is socially expected. He wasn’t concerned about the bees or the children.

Time passed, the bees died, and I auditioned for a local Art Center performance. When I made the cut, I was told my stage was set up at the Above and Beyond Children’s Museum. Of course, I had to check out the lawn and the set up before hand. I was thrilled to find clover in the lawn! Jeff and I had another meeting.

My next step was asking Michele Colopy, then Director of the Pollinator Stewardship Council, if a letter could be sent commending the change. The idea being to reinforce the positive and encourage a new perspective on lawn care.
This excellent letter is still influencing my local community today.

Grandma Jo
grandmajo4bees @gmail.com
White Clover for Honey Bees

https://www.facebook.com/whitecloverforhoneybees/

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Ohio beekeeper calls for industry-wide race to the top on pollinator protection before bees lose their race against time

Blooming flowers and the buzz of a new growing season inspires hope this spring after a long, challenging year.  But as a beekeeper in Akron, Ohio, the spring planting of new crops also reminds me of my bees’ vulnerability. Too often, what begins as the humming of new life at the beginning of the season ends as thousands of dead bees in my hives. It’s devastating, year after year, to watch so many of these incredible creatures die.

Twenty years ago, U.S. beekeepers like me considered a 10% annual loss of our bees customary; now 60% losses are normal for beekeepers contracted to pollinate our food, and who live in agricultural areas. A new study published in Science sheds some light on why. It found that even though farmers are using lower amounts of insecticides than a decade ago, agriculture has become twice as deadly to bees. That’s because we’re using more of certain pesticides, like neonicotinoids, that are highly toxic to insect life, from bees and butterflies to dragonflies and mayflies. Scientists warn of an “insect apocalypse” as 40% of insect species face extinction in coming decades.

So I was heartened to see the largest U.S. food retailer, Walmart, step up this week to help protect bees. Without bees, the shelves at Walmart and every other grocery store would look pretty bare since one in three bites of food we eat depends on pollination from honey bees as well as native pollinators. Research shows that we’re already seeing shortages in key crops like apples and blueberries because of pollinator declines.

Walmart’s new commitments will help to decrease the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides on millions of acres of farmland around the world. Walmart is requiring all of the fresh produce farmers supplying its U.S. stores to adopt ecological farming methods called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by 2025 and to get verified by independent third-party certifiers. IPM practices — including rotating crops, planting resistant crop varieties and fostering beneficial insects that kill pests without the chemicals — can decrease the need for toxic pesticides in the first place. Walmart is also encouraging fresh produce suppliers to phase out neonicotinoids and another highly toxic pesticide called chlorpyrifos, to avoid replacing them with other concerning pesticides, and to track and report use of these chemicals to assess progress.

With these commitments, Walmart is now leading the food retail industry on pollinator protection according to the Bee Friendly Retailer scorecard.

This is great news for bees, beekeepers and the farmers who rely on pollinators to grow abundant food. But it’s only a first step. Walmart needs to expand its commitments beyond the produce aisles. Research shows that the largest and most harmful use of deadly neonic pesticides for bees is as seed coatings for crops like corn and soy. Many analyses, including from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and University of Minnesota, show that these seed treatments don’t improve farmers’ yields or profit, so they come with an enormous cost to the environment without providing benefits. While we push for policy action to ban neonic coated seeds, retail giants like Walmart could make real change on the ground.

And one company cannot solve the pollinator crisis on its own. It’s time for other grocery stores like Kroger, the second largest U.S. food retailer, to step up and do their part. Kroger, which is headquartered here in Ohio, is falling behind on pollinator protection.

I hope Walmart’s new commitments are taken as a challenge to all food retailers to do better. Because what we need is an industry-wide race to the top on pollinator protection before bees lose their race against time.

—————————–

Michele Colopy is an Ohio beekeeper and executive director of LEAD for Pollinators. Thanks to Friends of the Earth for all of their work on behalf of pollinators.

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[The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment] believe the evidence is clear and overwhelming:

1. Pesticides in general, including those used by SLCMAD, represent a widespread risk to human health even at low doses, especially for fetuses and infants.
2. The VOCs from pesticide spraying is a significant contributor to local air pollution.
3. Spraying is not effective in reducing mosquito populations.
4. We must not allow a cure worse than the disease. The incidence of severe outcomes from West Nile Virus is so low that preventing those outcomes should not be allowed to eclipse the long list of other health and environmental concerns from pesticide use.
5. Spraying does not reduce the incidence of WNV.
6. Claims of safety for pesticide spraying use faulty logic and outdated, faulty science.
7. There are multiple oversights, inadequacies, omissions, inconsistencies, and errors in the SLCMAD’s EA.
8. Pesticide spraying has adverse impacts on beneficial insects, bird populations, wildlife, the ecosystem of the Great Salt Lake and beyond
9. There are Better Ways to Control Mosquitoes

Conclusion

The scientific and empirical evidence is overwhelming that spraying adulticides to kill mosquitoes, especially aerial spraying, is ineffective, and can be even counterproductive, over the long term, and even the short term, to both goals of controlling mosquito populations and preventing West Nile Virus. Furthermore, the medical literature strongly indicates that routine aerial spraying over Salt Lake City’s airshed represents a broad-based danger to public health. Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE) implore SLCMAD to end all of their insecticide spraying for mosquitoes, whether from back packs, trucks, or airplanes. This practice is an institutionalized relic of the 1950s and should be stopped immediately.”

READ the full report at https://www.uphe.org/priority-issues/mosquito-pesticide-spraying/

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We need to put the human experience first, not the maximization of profit.  We need to make cleanliness, safety, and access at the forefront.  Some of the simplest things have actually supported a positive experience, like making a reservation for a swim lane at the pool.  You know you will get to swim and be able to complete your workout without interruption or a crowded swim lane.  Even following a “defined traffic pattern” in a grocery store is safer for everyone: parents with kids, persons with disabilities, and really all of us distracted while shopping.

Stores have never been cleaner since every touched surface is being wiped down between customers.  I have really appreciated the grocery carts being cleaned. Pre-Covid I saw my grocery store clean its shopping carts once a year in the parking lot with a power washer.  I want the daily cleaning of grocery carts to continue post pandemic, please!

A number of changes made during the pandemic, like historical societal changes, benefit not just one part of the population.  Curb-side service for retail and groceries should continue for the immuno-suppressed, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and busy parents.  It is convenient for the customer, and the store continues to be able to serve all customers.

Businesses need to reexamine their footprint in case of another crisis.  How quickly can your business adapt to reach and serve your customers in a crisis (fire, health, weather, floods, etc.)? What is the amount of square footage needed by your business to be profitable?  How can you diversify your service and products to maintain and serve your customer base?  For a quality and healthy customer experience, and worker experience, should you crowd people into a small space just to make money?  For example, can you spread out the restaurant seating, providing more distance between tables, thus also making it safer for the wait staff to serve customers?  Customers will pay more for a pleasant, healthy, and safe place to eat.   Another thing I liked about health and safety changes was food preparation workers wearing masks, ensuring the food they were preparing was safe.

Access to buildings is important for all members of society, from the parent pushing their child in a stroller, to the skier who broke their leg, to the veteran who uses a wheelchair.  As society began cleaning every surface other humans touched, doors and door handles became a focal point.  While some accessible doors had a “button” you could push to open the door, that button too needed cleaned. Automatic doors are better, as they open for all.  The door companies should be marketing this upgrade.  Let’s make the majority of doors automatic doors so no one has to touch a door knob, and employees do not have to continually clean door knobs.

Member groups who hold monthly meetings have adjusted all year with virtual meetings and classes, and can continue that outreach.  As I blogged in March, the future of conferences will be a hybrid of online and onsite.  Offering online participation at member and educational activities and events even when on-site expands the participation options to members, keeps members safe during bad weather, if ill, or out of town.   Online participation options also allow a group to expand beyond a county, state, or region. It opens up the opportunity to bring in talented speakers from afar at less travel costs.  Speakers will appreciate the online option, as many have gotten used to and like presentations from home.  Conference presentations are so much more invigorating now for speakers without having to fly in a  cramped airplane, spending time and money to travel to the presentation, the travel costs to the speaker and the sponsoring group, and the potential impact upon the health of the speaker.  Whether speakers are virtual or on-site, they should be paid for their presentations.  A virtual presentation speaking fee should not be less than an on-site speaking fee.  The prep, research, time, and knowledge of the speaker are the same to create the presentation.  The event planner saves money by not having to pay the travel costs of speakers who are presenting virtually.

Vendors and exhibitors at conferences have a year of income to compare the  years spent at events and this past year not at events.  If business was sustained and improved without traveling to a conference, and paying for staff time and travel, why would they return to the “old way?”  The return on investment for vendors and exhibitors shows vendors, and event planners, the exhibitor/event planner relationship is overdue for change.  Vendors are tired of being charged high exhibitor rates, and get very little return on their investment.  Businesses will re-examine their conference participation, and event planners will have to adjust their pricing and add value to the exhibit fees.  The technology over this past year has begun to create virtual exhibit halls and expanded connections of vendors to attendees through technology.  Vendors are using technology that can be used on their own digital platforms as well as an event virtual vendor area.  Event planners will have to work with exhibitors to help them protect the health and safety of their employees, the attendees, and their bottom line.

What else would lead to a healthier, safer, considerate, resilient society?  I like:

• Six feet of distance between people in all lines: at the grocery store, retail store lines, airport lines, ticket lines, fast food lines, etc.
• Restrictions on the number of people permitted in buildings at one time, often posted per fire code; we need this for health safety as well.
• Six feet of distance between vendor tables and exhibits at events. And enough space in vendor areas that attendees can have a healthy space between other attendees.  (Hint: small hallways will no longer suffice for exhibit tables.)
• Gym showers cleaned after each use.
• Appointments to reserve a swimming lane at the pool.
• More space between airplane seats, theatre seats (I will pay more for a ticket if I have room for my entire body to comfortably utilize a seat).
• Regular mask wearing during the typical flu season.
• Windows that open in work places, schools, and meeting spaces for fresh air.
• HVAC system filters changed/cleaned more often to reduce the re-circulation of dust, viruses, etc. throughout the building.
• Reassessing the one-way traffic flow of humans at events and in facilities for convenience and health and safety.
• Food workers wearing facial masks while cooking food.
• Sustaining curb-side service for immuno-suppressed and persons with disabilities in retail and food service.
• Workers should participate in cleaning their own work space.  I do not want employers blithely “spraying disinfectants” throughout the work space, especially when no one has read the product label, and a disinfectant contains a fungicide.  I do not want to inhale fungicides.

As I look to return to events, conferences, and monthly member meetings, as a participant, speaker, and exhibitor, I will be seeking some of these changes for me and for the safety and health of fellow attendees.  All of us need to change how we interact with each other, with business, at events and social gatherings in order to be able to return to a social world.  When we experience another pandemic we will be better prepared to protect ourselves, our families, our members, our work, and our communities.

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Last year we all adapted, just like pollinators, to be involved, give and receive education, and connect with others.  Leaders in county and state associations had to adjust to serve their members and meet their mission.  While many groups attempted to provide on-site and in-person member meetings and state and national conferences, many were simply cancelled.  To adapt you have to accept change.  Adaptation means learning new methods.  In the case of monthly member meetings and conferences, education delivery had to change.  Event planners had to quickly learn the technology, and most importantly learn from others successes and failures.

2020 was LEAD for Pollinators inaugural year. Last February we planned a national conference for October.  However, we quickly saw we had to adjust, as did our scheduled speakers. By June we had adapted our on-site conference to a virtual conference.  Speakers were pleased we were concerned for their health and safety. We featured our sponsors and vendors, and we served the education needs of beekeepers, farmers, member groups, and entrepreneurs at our Becoming 21st Century Leaders: Women in Beekeeping and Agriculture virtual conference.

We continue to provide online education with regionally and nationally recognized speakers in our Log-In to Learn Webinars.  We are presenting 44 topics during 2021 for beekeepers, association leaders, entrepreneurs, farmers, gardeners, and more. 

Similar to an on-site, in-person event, audiences want an engaging, knowledgeable speaker, with a different point of view.  Eventually the local audience has heard every speaker in their club, and even many speakers at the state level.   Good speakers excite an audience to think, laugh, and utilize skills or information learned during a presentation. 

Too many groups have continually relied upon the “tried and true” speakers, but now audiences have access to national and international speakers online.  Due to the Covid health and safety restrictions, audiences will demand quality and diversity in their speakers going forward.  In the March 2021 issue of the American Bee Journal is an article discussing “The Value of A Good Event Speaker”  for their skill, knowledge, and “stage presence” online and onsite.

A good speaker is vital especially online, as the competition is now so vast.  Even when we return to on-site events, audiences, and speakers, will demand quality and diversity in topics, speakers, and cost. What the Covid health and safety restrictions have taught us in conference and meeting planning is quality speakers can be provided easily via the internet, without the speaker having to travel, and not incurring travel expenses.  As conference planning begins again, speakers will not want to travel, as they can readily provide a presentation via an internet connection.  Speakers can interact with an audience via the internet.  Even in large halls on-site, a moderator circulates to hear the questions from the audience.

Speakers will be relieved to not have to spend days travelling to and from an event.  Conferences will save money on travel costs for speakers. If your event has not paid speaker fees and travel costs, read “The Value of A Good Event Speaker” in the March 2021 American Bee Journal (and start paying speakers).

Vendors too will examine the past year to assess the economic value of attending conferences.  The cost of paying staff, paying their travel costs, and time away from their business will be evaluated at a different level now.  Vendors were able to support virtual conferences in 2020 and 2021, for less cost, and still increase their sales.  Conference planners will have to examine the new costs of virtual vendors, and virtual exhibit halls.  The new normal will have to offer both, and will have to be cost effective. Vendors who made money during 2020 without going to state, regional, and national conferences will re-examine their need to return to on-site events with all of the additional staff costs, plus the vendor fee.  Having been a nonprofit vendor at state, regional, and national conferences, the vendor fees have been typically too high, unaware on any aspect of the return on investment (ROI) to the vendor.  If a vendor’s ROI from the costs of being a vendor onsite does not at least break-even, vendors may only want their presence in an ad, or only online.

The return to large events, conferences, fairs, and more will be slow for many of us.  The full audience will not return for a while, and conference planners, and member education leaders will have to compromise with speakers, members, venues, and vendors.  We will have to adapt like pollinators.  To provide education we have to continue to be open to new ways to communicate, to share, and to learn from each other.

Learn to plan and implement hybrid conferences and meetings.  For those members who can’t attend a meeting due to weather, or illness, they could still attend online as long as we also make on-site meetings online as well.  We can provide national and international speakers on-site, but online as well, saving travel costs and time, for the speaker, and the event planners. 

Speakers will be asking for the online option. Members will expect online options.  Audiences will appreciate a national or international speaker “brought in” to an event online. Audiences will appreciate the reduced travel costs through online participation in an event.

Vendors will want reasonable vendor fees reflecting a return on their investment to include options for only ads, only onsite, or only online, or all three.

Event planners will reduce their costs and yet increase the value of their event with diverse speakers on-site and online, including diversity of vendor support and interaction to meet the needs of this new speaker and audience experience.

It is a new event planning world.  Embrace it and get planning hybrid events!

The post <strong>A Hybrid of On-Site & Online</strong> appeared first on Lead For Pollinators.

Continue your beekeeping, gardening, farming, small business, and leadership education during 2021.  Forty-plus presentations will inform, inspire, and invigorate listeners.  Two series will be presented:  Log-in To Learn series and Creating Pollinator Habitat series.  Webinars will be held from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. eastern (7p central, 6p mountain, 5p pacific), and feature regional and national speakers who are experienced, knowledgeable, and engaging in topics important to beekeeping, pollinator habitat, healthy soils, clean water, community-supported agriculture, leadership, and small business.  Registration fee is $10 per webinar per person.  Group rates are available for member associations, clubs, and groups.  Live presentations will be recorded and available for individuals to pay-to-view the presentations across 2021.  For more information about topics, dates, and group rates visit https://leadforpollinators.org/log-in-to-learn-webinars/  or email us at info@leadforpollinators.org

Review the Schedule of Webinars.

Other opportunities with the Log-In To Learn and Creating Pollinator Habitat webinar series include:

Advertising at the webinars

Becoming a Sponsor of the webinars

And the Multipak Group Rate for 11 presentations for your group during 2021.

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What is your reaction to a bee buzzing by? Is it the same as when you see that gorgeous butterfly flitting from flower to flower? Ever wish for summer to end so the bugs would die off? What if they actually did and never returned?

Diversity unlike any other
Many of our pollinators come in such diverse combinations that it is hard for even fans to engage in distinguishing their differences. Sure, it is easy to tell a butterfly and a hornet apart, but many solitary bees and flies like extremely similar mid flight. All of our pollinators hold a special key to our food chain- pollination, it’s even in their name. They do what they do best- travel from bloom to bloom transferring vital components that allow the vegetation to grow. Almost everything we eat is created with their help. Yes, there are some foods that do not require pollinators such as corn and rice. But if flavor is the spice of life, there is no life without all these wonderful bugs.

They love an opportunity!
Bugs in general can fit into some small places! A crack in the siding or soffit to your house can quickly become the busiest highway for a colony of honey bees. Have an overhang on your porch? Bet your bottom dollar that wasps have taken up a nest there at some point. Mammals in general are opportunistic, but pollinators have a special niche; being small enough to fit into some odd places. Typically, if you do find them taking up residence, they only wish to co-reside, but they can be problematic. Providing them with alternatives- such as a solitary bee box, that burn pile you never got to, etc.- can create wonderful habitats away from humans. Consider adding bat boxes near the eaves of your house- a common predator of some flying bugs, as well as an important pollinator. What about those mean wasps and hornets? A large paper bag tied to fishing string to imitate a roundish nest tends to ward them off. Increasing birds by offering birdhouses can also contribute to less bugs near your home, as they are natural predators of most insects; as a bonus, they have some of the best songs in all of nature.

How Can YOU help pollinators?
It doesn’t take much to assist our powerful, necessary pollinators. In fact, it is actually easy! Clover, for example- is an essential first spring resource for honey bees. Other pollinators love fallen leaves, and some even survive through the winter under them. All that yard work seems less attractive now for another reason, right? It’s not about just planting flowers; that does help- especially on larger scales, but is not a full course for many important bugs on which we rely. When sweltering temperatures arrive, consider putting out a small bowl of water with rocks or pebbles in it- or take this as a reminder to refill that bird bath. Just as in humans, water is essential. Another idea is to support your local groups that advocate for pollinators. Whether it’s a national group, your local bee club or your local beekeeper- there are literally thousands that champion the pollinator cause. Will you be one of them?

What if pollinators died off?

We discussed many ways you can help your pollinators, but let’s talk of the future. In the last 10 years, humans have seen a 41% drop in insect population. So, what IF the bugs did die off and your summer wish came true? Firstly, larger insects that prey on the smaller insects would die off. Slowly, the birds and bats would follow. During the same time most fruits and vegetables would cease to be pollinated. Although this can be done by human hands, it is expensive and time consuming. In turn, this would cause prices for all fruits and vegetables to sky rocket and most flowers to not return the following year. Gradually, all meat prices would rise as well, due to feed prices being too expensive of the grasses that must be pollinated. Our entire food supply would crumble over time. Also, take into consideration that many animals would start to become extinct, as their food supply is parallel to ours.

So my question to you- after reading how easy it is to help, what will you do for pollinators?

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