Fly on Cilantro.
National Pollinator Week is a USDA sponsored event with the main focus of improving the health of pollinators, primarily, honeybees. I appreciate their efforts, but if the USDA really wanted to improve pollinator health, they would get out of their agri-business practices that are most responsible for loss of pollinator friendly ecosystems. Anyway, celebrating pollinators is a good thing, so we’ll contribute by featuring some of our local pollinating friends.
There are a lot more pollinators out there than just honeybees. The home gardener, particularly, can get along just fine without ever having a European type honey bee, the kind used by the agricultural industry and the honey industry, visit their property. We see quite a few European honeybees, I presume from hives in the area, but most of my pollinators are the wild type. I rate bumblebees as our number one friend. Bumblebees are prolific here, with many varieties showing up, but I’ve chosen to show off a few other creatures that also do their part.
At the top is a fly on some flowering cilantro. I’ve found cilantro to be an excellent attractor to pollinating insects, so I let it bolt and flower as often as I can.
Ant on Cilantro
Ants are important pollinators.
Cabbage Moth
I don’t like this guy at all, but almost all moths and butterflies do contribute to the pollination of garden plants.
Damselfly
There is discussion on whether damselflies and dragonflies are important or possibly negative in the pollination scheme. They do contribute a little to pollination, but they probably eat up more pollinating insects than their pollinating efforts offset. They eat a lot of bad bugs, however, and they sure are cool looking.
Wasp on Cilantro
Wasps are very important pollinators, but watch out, they don’t make good pets!
Wasp on Sumac
Wasp on Wild Aster
I like the wild aster, I’m not keen on sumac, but flowering weeds support a lot of insects.
Small Bee on Potato Blossom
We get a lot of bees that are not your typical honeybee. Here’s a little bitty bee on a potato blossom.
Bees do It
Love makes the world go round.
Bee on Cilantro
My, what big eyes you have!
Bee on Mustard
A metallic blue bee.
Small Bee on Cilantro
We see numerous varieties of small bees along with many other pollinating animals. We try to provide plants they like, and having a National Pollinator Week to get people to understand the importance of pollination is actually a very good idea.