Pollinator Favourites - BFFs

Media reports of pollinator declines are prevalent now, particularly of the honey bees. Most of our food plants depend upon insect pollinators, or the wind. Popular social media sites such as Facebook have scattered memes promoting bee friendly actions on our part.

How can we help? First off there is plenty of reading at www.seeds.ca/pollination Each of us can become a BFF to bees and other pollinators, by reducing the use of pesticides and by planting bee-friendly flowers. There is a pattern for bee nests perfect for school groups or other interested citizens: https://seeds.ca/pollination/making-bee-nests

We can even self-identify as a BFF. That is, a Bee Friendly Farmer. If you are a business operator or even a home owner with gardens, there are colourful graphics for you to use to identify yourself and your property as a BFF. Please self-identify herehttp://www.seeds.ca/pollination/bff-bfg

Here are a few of the seasonal plants we can use in our landscaping to attract and feed pollinators, bees in particular.

Spring flowering: Violets, Blue Flag Iris, Dandelions (yes, bees’ early food), Coltsfoot, Spring Beauty, wild cherries and shadbush.

Summer flowers favoured by bees include: Harebell, Evening-primrose, Black-eyed Susan, goldenrods, fleabanes, coneflowers and Globe Thistle.
Fall flowers include goldenrods, sunflowers, asters, Alfalfa, Yarrow, Cleome, Borage and Wild Mustard.

Other things we can do to assist our personal pollinator population remains healthy is by not removing those dandelions as soon as they flower. Often in areas of massive urban/suburban developments they are the only food source in May.

Gardeners need to ask whether bedding plants or seeds have been sprayed or treated with insecticide. In particular neonicotinoids have been associated with honey-bee colony collapse. While this collective type of insecticide is less harmful to birds and mammals, they are toxic to insects, targeted and non-targeted.

If you are interested in joining a community effort to monitor pollinators beginning this summer, please send me a private message. This would most likely be of interest to those in Hants, Kings and Lunenburg counties of Nova Scotia.

Blue Flag Iris, photo by Martin Thomas

shadbush, photo by Martin Thomas

harebells, photo by Martin Thomas

Canada goldenrod, by Martin Thomas
Yarrow, by Martin Thomas