Bees, butterflies and other creatures that spread pollen are being celebrated right now during Pollinator Week – even as pollinators in Michigan face growing threats from habitat loss, pesticides, diseases and climate change.
“There are several different threats to pollinators in Michigan (and) one of these is just habitat loss, so we need good places for bees to be able to collect nectar and pollen,” said Ana Heck, an apiculture extension officer at Michigan State University.
“We also worry about pesticide exposure; there’s also diseases affecting pollinators depending on the species—and then there’s also climate change which can play a role in how bees and other pollinators can survive and thrive.”
About 75 percent to 95 percent of flowering plants need help from pollinators, which also includes bats, moths, beetles and small animals that spread pollen around, according to the Pollinator Partnership, a national nonprofit that coordinates the event.
The week is intended to raise awareness and encourage people to support pollinators by creating safe spaces where they can thrive. The U.S. Senate in 2008 designated that one week in June would be Pollinator Week.
About 50 percent of bees died over the winter, reflecting similar losses across the country. Many starved to death because they couldn’t find enough flowers to create adequate stores of honey to make it through the cold winter months.
Butterflies also are threatened by a lack of flowers. They draw nectar from flowers to eat. Monarch butterflies need the nectar of many flowers to build fat stores for their long annual migration to Mexico.
Butterfly larvae eat the leaves or flowers of particular kinds of plants, depending on their species. For Monarchs, milkweed is essential. Their larvae eat the leaves, buds and flowers of milkweed, and they can’t develop into butterflies without it.
Heck said there are many kinds of bees in Michigan in addition to honey bees – 450 species, in fact. Planting native species of flowers, plants and trees helps all of them to survive, as well as other pollinators.
To find out more, visit the MSU Extension at https://www.canr.msu.edu/pollination/.