BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to 'City abuzz with activity during Pollinator Week,' published June 14.
Barrie will be celebrating Pollinator Week until June 25 to help raise awareness of the incredibly important role played by pollinators.
The City of Barrie has supported the initiatives outlined in the Pollinator Partnership Canada guide, such as reducing the number of mowing cycles per summer, increasing the number of naturalized spaces, replacing planting areas with native species, supporting the planting of native trees as bees need resin from coniferous trees, restoring and enhancing the shoreline restoration, and creating an in-house native flower-enhanced seed mix.
Our health, well-being, future existence and all of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems depend on pollinators. We rely the furry bumble bees, native bees, honey bees, birds, beetles, fruit bats, moths, flies, wasp, butterflies, and even rats to help pollinate over pollinate more than 175, 000 species of plants, according to the Nature Conservancy.
As a matter of fact, pollinators are responsible for every third mouthful of food that we eat. And if you eat a lot of meat, you may not be aware you still depend on small pollinators residing at the bottom of the food chain. Alfalfa eaten by cows will not grow and flourish without being pollinated by the alfalfa leaf cutting bee. Here in Canada, we have more than 850 native bee species and an increasing number of those are at the risk of extinction.
Research has shown native plants are a great source of nectar for our pollinators. Native plants are extremely adaptive and have evolved over thousands of years to thrive in a variety of conditions, including poor soil, and are pest- and disease-resistant.
Unfortunately, many domesticated plants grown in our backyard gardens have been bred for beauty and have lost much of their capacity to produce nectar and pollen. Here in Ontario, we have more than 270,000 kilometres of road with roadsides dominated by a riot of naturalized flora, which are an incredible food source for our pollinators. Research has demonstrated that pollinating insects such bees, moths, beetles, wasps, ants, and butterflies all visit roadside flowers frequently.
It is estimated that pollinators provide upwards of $217 billion to the world economy. Pollinators rights here in Ontario alone are responsible for $897 million worth of agricultural crops per year, according to the Growing Forward 2 Guide.
If the townships eliminated their regular, widespread mowing, not only will there be more opportunities for pollinators to feed on readily available food sources, but there will be a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when the use of mowers is reduced. That's according to the Growing Forward 2 – Managing, Enhancing, Restoring Pollinator Habitats Along Ontario’s Roadsides.
One flowering plant that flowers from June to September in naturalized areas is the ox-eye daisy. Since bees are especially attracted to the colours yellow and white ox-eye daisies are like a magnets for bees. Many experts actually consider the ox-eye daisies here in North America to be one of the most important sources for pollen and nectar for pollinators. Not only do ox-eye daisies attract bees, but they also attract moths and beetles, according to www.buzzaboutbees.net.
One way we can help protect our precious pollinators is to ensure that our pollinators have many opportunities to gather nectar from biologically diverse green spaces.
In your home garden, you are encouraged to plant as many native and non-native plants that are attractive to pollinators.
If you do not have a garden, you can plant herbs on sunny window or balcony whose flowers attract pollinators. Lemon balm, basil, chives, and rosemary are all pollinator friendly herbs. Rosemary is like a perfect herb as it’s drought tolerant, pest-resistant and blooms right into winter. People love rosemary potatoes and the bees love the nectar-rich, bluish purple flowers.
If we humans do everything we can to protect, maintain and enhance the food sources for all our pollinators, we will end up increasing our own food sources for our future survival.
Gwen Petreman
Barrie
