What’s the Buzz on Native Bees?

What’s the Buzz on Native Bees, and How You Can Put Them to Work on Your Crops

Learn about the importance of native pollinators such as bumble bees, not only valued by farmers for crop pollination but they keep plant communities healthy and productive. Most of the fruits and vegetables we eat require the intervention of an insect pollinator and it may surprise you to know that Insect pollinated berries and seeds feed wildlife species from grizzly bears to cedar waxwings. Pollinators are essential to plant reproduction that supports people and wildlife.

The speaker is Linda Rinta, a farmer, beekeeper and member of the Xerces Society. Linda will describe the decline in the honey bee and native bee populations putting critical pollination services at risk for crops such as cranberries, blueberries, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and squash. Pollination is the basis for getting good yields from nearly all of our important fruit and vegetable crops. Since the turn of the century, honey bee colonies have declined by around 40 percent from a combination of disease and parasites. Thankfully we have always had a strong baseline pollination from native bumblebees and they are actually better pollinators than honey bees. However, now they are also in decline with loss of habitat and adequate floral resources. We used to have as many as 400 species of native bees in our area however with loss of open meadows and fields, over use of pesticides and loss of adequate nesting areas, bumble bees and butterflies have decreased.

This is something that every farmer, every gardener no matter how small can do something about. With very little effort, miles of pollinator habitat can be planted, one “yard” at a time. Linda will discuss what steps can be taken to promote native bee populations both from the perspective of conserving endangered populations such as the rusty patched bumble bee and increasing native bee populations in the immediate vicinity of farms and gardens to increase harvest through their pollination services.

In addition to the Conservation District, the program is sponsored by the Polly Hill Arboretum, the Island Grown Initiative and the MV Agricultural Society. It is free and open to the public.