Protecting Our Pollinators

It's not too early to start thinking about NPW.

NPW? National Pollinator Week. 

The fourth annual National Pollinator Week, set June 21-27, is a time not only to remember the pollinators, but to celebrate them. In reality, every week should be National Pollinator Week and every day should be National Pollinator Day.

They are a key to our global sustainability and food supply. Eighty-percent of the world's crops depend on pollination. Honey bees pollinate about one-third of the food we eat. 

Worldwide, we have about 20,000 species of bees, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. And California alone, he says, has more than 1600 species. Bees include sweat bees, digger bees, leafcutting bees, bumble bees, and scores of others.

Want to know what to plant in your garden to attract bees and other pollinators? Good sites to read are UC Berkeley's Urban Bee Gardens Web site and the Xerces Society Web site.

Meanwhile, almond blossoms are in full bloom in California. At the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis, an almond tree near the apiary is a burst of blossoms and a flash of aromatic fury.

Walk by the tree and you'll see pollen-packing honey bees buzzing around like there's no tomorrow. 

We must ensure there will be a tomorrow.