Powerful Pollinators

Valeri owns the Wild Bird Chalet and also ran a section of Fourth Corner Nurseries for nine years. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental education. Valeri can be heard on a semi-monthly radio show (11 a.m. on the first and third Saturday of each month) on KGMI, AM790.

Few of us really understand the miracle of pollinators. Pollinators transfer pollen granules from one flower to another flower of the same species. They make plant sex possible. Fertilization must take place for fruit and seeds to develop, thereby ensuring the next generation. Indeed, we could not live without these creatures.

The wind moves pollen, but animals — mostly insects — pollinate 75 to 80 percent of plants worldwide. Birds, bats, mice and even opossums have been known to pollinate. Every third bite or drink we take is brought to us courtesy of pollinators. They also provide clothing in the forms of cotton, linen, rayon and hemp. A myriad of products we use daily exist because of pollinators.

For example, at this moment, the production of chocolate hangs by a thread, due to modern agriculture’s disregard of pollinators. A cocoa flower needs between five and eight months to develop into a ripe fruit. This flower, about the size of a nickel, is very complex: so complex in fact, that only one animal pollinates it — a midge. Similar to our “no-see-um,” this tiny fly, about a millimeter long, lives in the tropical rainforest, the same environment that is the natural habitat for cocoa.

Large cocoa plantations were designed for a greater yield of cocoa with lower expenses. But these monoculture croplands are too hot and dry for our little midges. The bigger the plantation, the harder it is for the midges to reach the cocoa blossoms. In addition, wild cocoa has more than 75 distinct aroma ingredients, designed to attract pollinators, but cultivated cocoa has only a fraction of these.

In the end only about three out of every thousand cultivated cocoa flowers are pollinated, fertilized and become fruit. Sustainable cocoa farms work with nature to protect rainforests and provide livelihoods for local residents. They take into account the value of pollinators.

In the United States, products of pollination by honeybees and other insects are worth over $40 billion dollars per year. Honeybees alone pollinate about $15 billion worth of crops annually in this country. With the mysterious honeybee disappearance of the last few years, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), 50 to 90 percent of managed colonies in the U.S. have been lost. People are beginning to understand the importance of our native pollinators.

There are nearly 4,000 species of native bees in North America. One of the more common, the orchard mason bee, spends its whole short life creating the next generation and incidentally providing food for us. Emerging from hibernation in late spring, a brief mating takes place. The males die and the females lay eggs and gather pollen and nectar for about a month, before they also die.

Though they prefer fruit trees such as apples, cherries and pears, they also pollinate peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries and thimbleberries all benefit from their pollen gathering activities as well.

After the female orchard mason bee lays each egg (one or two per day), she gathers pollen and nectar, chewing it up and sticking it to the egg, so when the egg hatches a food source will be readily available. Then she seals it all in a cell with a plug of mud. In order to get enough food for one or two eggs, the female must visit upwards of 1,900 blossoms.

Orchard mason bees are not affected by either of the parasitic mites that plague honeybees, though they do have their own mite parasite. Along with the leaf cutter bee, the bumblebee and other native bees, successful pollination can and does take place. But not always.

What are the signs of incomplete pollination? First of all, one visit from a pollinator is rarely enough to make a quality fruit or vegetable. Apples, as well as many other crops, may need 15 to 20 visits. If this doesn’t happen, fruit may start to form and then drop off. Fruit or vegetables may be badly shaped or small. They may also be tough by the time they get to a decent size, as in cucumbers.

The flesh of a fruit or vegetable is designed to provide food for the seeds when they germinate. If incomplete fertilization takes place, fewer seeds will form, with less soft tissue to go along with it. These weak or misshapen spots rot more quickly. A well-pollinated apple blossom will become an apple with eight or nine seeds, whereas a flower only visited a few times may become a small apple with only three seeds, if it ripens at all.

There are many simple things a person can do to help pollinators, while helping our fellow humans. Each ecosystem is made up of smaller systems, which are in turn composed of even smaller bionetworks. There are huge gaps in our knowledge of the intricate interactions taking place constantly in nature. Fortunately we don’t have to be experts. We can watch, read, talk to others, observe some more and imitate. We don’t have to get things right. We need to work with the same palette that nature uses in our areas and copy shamelessly.

Every single native plant adds to ecosystem diversity, and will be used by a number of local animals for food or habitat. Be aware that a few natives can be aggressive, though not like introduced plants. Douglas spirea and cattails may spread out over a marshy area, but they do not crowd everything else out and do offer needed forage and shelter; whereas it is nearly impossible to get rid of invasive reed canary grass, which lacks food value.

Reproduce as many environments as possible, but build on what is already present. Add shade-tolerant species to a wooded area and sun-lovers to open areas. Plant in groups for species diversity.

A balanced environment contains water. Moving water is a bird magnet. It’s the lucky person who has running or standing water on his or her property. Wetlands are nature’s sponges, soaking up excess liquid and releasing it slowly, helping to prevent flooding. Butterflies need moist sand and loam in order to gather minerals. Mud is used for orchard mason bee’s and bird’s nests.

There may be no greater magnet for pollinators than sunny, open meadows. Filled with a rainbow of flowers and grasses, these prairie habitats were once abundant. The huge variety of native plants from which to create a meadow makes it an exciting experience. Set out flat stones in sunny, wind-free areas for butterflies to rest. As an added bonus, this environment coexists well with fruit and nut trees that we humans like.

Different pollinators are attracted to a range of shapes, colors, smells and types of pollen in flowers, needing them at various times throughout the year. The caterpillars of moths and butterflies eat one kind of food, while adults consume another. For example, a red admiral butterfly larvae eats stinging nettles, but adults like fermenting fruit, as well as flower nectar.

Feel free to plant natives in with gardens and ornamental landscapes. Mix fruits, vegetables and berries in with natives, but be cautious of the possible invasive qualities of some nonnative plants. As a landscape transforms, pollinators change and grow and people become more open and diverse as well. §