When we think about pollinators, honeybees often come to mind. And while honeybees do an excellent job of pollinating flowers they visit, honeybees are just one example in a whole complex of insects and even birds that do Nature’s work of pollination. 

To distill it down, a pollinator is an insect or sometimes an animal that transfers pollen from the male portion of a flower to the female part. They don’t do it for a paycheck, but as part of their natural processes. Pollinators are out looking for food, other insects to eat, or even a mate. When pollen is moved from one flower to another, it benefits us (since we like to eat) and helps plants form fertilized seeds and reproduce. Attracting pollinating insects and birds is the reason plants make colorful flowers and nectar. Forming flowers and producing nectar requires a lot of energy, and it isn’t just to please us. It’s to draw in that bee, butterfly, wasp, or hummingbird.

Some plants, like corn or white pine trees, have decided that spending all that effort hoping for a visit from an insect is for the birds and have developed a different method of sharing their genetic code. They are wind-pollinated and don’t require a pollinating insect or bird to drop by. But an estimated 90 food crops and 30% of the foods we eat need pollinators.

Without pollination, most plants won’t set fruit and form seeds. An unpollinated female squash flower won’t become a fruit; it just withers and falls off. The fruit is meant as a protective seed covering and as an animal attractant (they eat it and spread the seeds). If the plant didn’t get pollinated, it wouldn’t bother wasting the energy to make the fruit and seeds. Poor pollination in corn results in ears that are not fully kernaled. For your tomatoes, it means no tomato sauce. 

Pollinators are more than just honeybees

The common honeybee (Apis mellifera) is one of about 8 species of honey bees, but there are thousands of other species of bees worldwide. And bees are just one subset of the category of pollinators.

Native bees

Honey bees are few, but there are thousands of native bee species, many of which are solitary. Large and small dark bees, green bees, and bumblebees all buzz about, and do much more pollinating in most areas than our famous honey bee. Take a close look at the flower patch and you’ll start to notice differences in size and coloring. 

Wasps

Did you know wasps are pollinators? Spend some time quietly watching the flowers, and you’ll see wasps landing on blooms, poking around, doing their thing, and then heading to the next flower. While they aren’t as good at it as a bee due to the lack of a fuzzy body to trap pollen, wasps are still important members of the pollinator group. 

Most wasps are solitary, meaning they don’t create the large nests that freak us out when we see them. If the wasps aren’t causing a problem, leave them to control pest insects and pollinate your flowers.

Moths

Moths are mostly nocturnal pollinators, and pollinate while bouncing from one flower to another looking for a mate or a spot to lay eggs. We don’t see them often, except while they flutter around the porch light, but they’re quite active at pollination.

Hummingbirds

These amazing little birds are excellent pollinators. They visit countless numbers of flowers in a day, drinking nectar and picking up a little pollen here and there. The rotorwash from their wings can also blow pollen around from one flower to another. If you haven’t seen the downdraft on lower leaves caused by their flurried wingbeats, hang your feeder lower to some foliage. 

In my garden, the hummingbirds visit the salvia frequently, but petunias and cannas are also a favorite.

Butterflies

Butterflies are otherworldly and impossible not to be amazed at. How can such a complex and colorful critter come from a caterpillar? Of course, they are excellent pollinators, and people have often planted butterfly gardens to try to attract them. They drink nectar, but transfer pollen as they move from one bloom to the next.

Ants and other insects

Beetles, flies, ants, and other insects also pollinate as they go about their day. While they may not get the fame or do as much pollen transfer as some other pollinators, they are still out there doing the job and providing the much-needed service.

The Importance of Season-long Food

We’ve all heard about the importance of growing native plants for the pollinators, and that isn’t wrong. It’s very important. The truth is that pollinators also visit non-native plants, annuals, and even invasives (I’m not suggesting you grow invasive species). Every year, I have more bee activity on my oregano patch than on any other plant, native or otherwise, in my garden. After I’ve gathered my harvest of leaves to dry for later, I allow the oregano to go to flower, and the bees love it. Native bees of half a dozen species that I’ve identified thus far flock to the oregano patch by the hundreds in August.

What is important, more so than exactly what flower you grow, is providing food (nectar and pollen) for a long, continuous period. Ideally, your garden should have something in bloom from springtime until frost. It can be tricky, because many of the annuals we grow won’t flower until late summer. That’s where those natives, woody shrubs, and perennials can save the day, because they often flower earlier. Beginning with apple trees, serviceberry, and many flowering shrubs, pollinators that have awoken from the winter have something to eat. The idea of no-mow-May is for pollinators, because in many parts of the country, not much is blooming except for the white clover and other small wildflowers in your yard. 

Plan a pollinator-friendly garden to have something in bloom as soon as you can in spring, and then to sequentially have blooming plants all spring and summer, into the fall. A mix of annuals and perennials, natives and non-natives, provides a smorgasbord for pollinators, and they’ll visit all of it. Planting some of these next to your vegetable garden, or even better, mixed in amongst it, will ensure adequate pollination of your tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and squash. 

Minimizing insecticides

Of course, most pollinators are insects, and spraying toxic chemicals all over your yard isn’t healthy for them (or you). Many common insecticides we might reach for to kill a pest insect also harm pollinators. Check out this table and article from the Ohio State University Extension for help determining which pesticides and active ingredients are more bee-friendly.  

If you must spray an insecticide, choose one that is lower danger to pollinators, and apply it when they aren’t around, like before a plant flowers or in the late evening. 

Help Count the Bees!

Many states offer citizen science opportunities to help gather data on bee populations, feeding habits, and more. It’s basically a census for native bees. If you live in the southeast, check out the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. Minnesota gardeners can join the Nest Quest, and Wisconsin gardeners can use the WiBee app. Even if you don’t live in these states, they have excellent bee ID tools for free to download and reference. Call your county extension office or search online using your state, the word extension, and native bees. You’ll likely find something.