Recently, Mathew and I decided that the weather was perfect to harvest some herbs. It had been dry for several days and the sky was blue with a few clouds for decoration ~ simply put it was a glorious day to tend to the plants. Mathew set out to harvest Motherwort  (Leonurus cardiaca) and I, Goldenrod (Solidago spp.). The pollinators were as happy as we were. Their pollen sacks were bursting and appeared to be weighing down a few of the little guys. I love sharing the flowers and am so grateful that from spring till early fall there is a constant flow of blossoms on our land. The bees and butterflies seem perfectly happy with sharing the flowers with us as well. They flowed around us and it reminded me of snorkeling with the fish off the coast of Belize. I felt like I was accepted, part of their world.

Mathew came back with his basket and asked if it was enough. He didn’t want to gather too much since the bees looked really happy. He definitely picked enough for a batch. With a look of relief, we decided to leave the rest for the bees to enjoy too. The excitement of our little pollinators was undeniable ~ the flowers were alive and vibrating with life. It’s important that everyone shares and leaves enough so there will be plenty next year.

When we arrived five years ago, nothing had been sprayed on our land (to my knowledge) and nothing has been sprayed since. I would bet no pesticides have been sprayed for at least a decade or more. Sharing the flowers with all the pollinators feels even better because I know our blossoms will nourish and not harm them. By gathering pollen and nectar for their survival, they assist the plants in their continued existence, which in turn provides us with fruits and vegetables, thus contributing to our survival. It is a beautiful bond that unites us all. Furthermore, it’s not just the bees and butterflies, but hummingbirds, bats, beetles, and flies that visit each plant to collect nectar. All these critters need the nectar as much as we need the fruits and vegetable for survival. Approximately 90 percent of all flowering plants require pollinators to survive. Think about it ~ 90%!

I find it interesting that we depend on pollinators for our food ~ that is in many ways our very existence threatens theirs. One of the main threats facing pollinators is habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. As humans expand their territory they replace native vegetation with roadways, manicured lawns, crops and non-native gardens, therefore, pollinators lose their food and nesting sites that are necessary for their survival. In addition, migratory pollinators face particular challenges.  With habitat loss, the distance between adequate habitat patches along their migration route become too vast; therefore, smaller, weaker individuals die during their journey, reducing their populations significantly.

One of the biggest challenges to the pollinators is pesticides that are designed to prevent and destroy weeds, fungi, pest, insects, mice, and other animals. So, how do pesticides affect pollinators? Many pesticides are acutely toxic to bees and simply kill them. The pesticides that do not kill bees generally have effects on their performance hindering olfactory learning (they don’t know where to go), foraging, and reproduction, which affects hive survival. There are herbicides used in fields, along rights-of-way and in forests, which tend to reduce the number of flowering plants. This reduces the amount of food available for native pollinators, making their survival more difficult. This has effects throughout the food chain, reduced pollination leads to reduced fruit on which birds and other creatures depend on. By their very nature, pesticides pose risks to humans, animals and the environment because they are designed to kill or adversely affect living organisms.

For me it is a rather straightforward concept: do not poison our partners. Why do I refer to pollinators as partners? Well simply put, we are all united. We would surely miss them if they vanished because we poisoned the flowers they were pollinating or destroyed the habitat that these plants need to survive. When I think of the layers of issues surrounding Colony Collapse Disorder affecting the bee population, White-nose Syndrome killing bats, and the decline of the Monarch butterflies, I feel at a loss. Humans have become their own worst enemy. We are destroying ourselves by carelessness and greedy actions. We need to accept and embrace the fact that we are all it in together. Once we work in harmony with all the life on this planet, I believe there will be more living than destruction.

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”   ~ Herman Melville

Although our little piece of land can’t solve all the problems, it does provide a safe haven and wonderful blossoms full of nectar for our little friends, which in turn contributes to the solutions. Importantly, this is part of the process.

How do you contribute to the solutions? Please share and I will continue to share.