Pollinators, Can’t Live Without Them!

It’s true, we can’t live without pollinators, and they can’t live without our help.

The most common pollinators are insects, including bees, wasps,  butterflies, moths, flies and beetles. But these are not the only ones. There are about 1500 species of vertebrates, including Bats Birds and Mammals that are getting in on the act of pollination.

Why are pollinators important?

Simply put, we can’t live without pollinators.

• Pollinators are vital in the reproductive cycle of plants. Pollen holds  the male reproductive cells and needs to be carried to the female reproductive parts of plants by pollinators.
  

  
  Ali Niaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

• 75% to 95% of all flowering plants need help with pollination through the services of pollinators. Fact: about 1 out of every 3 bites of food eaten is there because of pollinators.
• About 217 billion dollars is added to the global economy by pollinators. Honeybees, contribute about 1.2 to 5.4 billion dollars to agriculture productivity in the United States.
• Pollinators support healthy ecosystems by encouraging biodiversity.

How does pollination benefit the environment?

• It supports the growth and proliferation of trees, and plants that in turn enhance ecosystems by stopping erosion and purifying ground water.
• Many animals rely on the habitats and ecosystems created and maintained by pollinators, for food and shelter.
• Clean air is an indirect benefit of pollination.  Flowering plants and trees, whose reproduction depends on pollinators)  are the lungs of the earth. They produce, exhale, breathable oxygen after taking in, inhaling, the carbon dioxide produced by animals.
• The earth’s water cycle depends on plants to return moisture to the atmosphere. Plants depend on water (either ground water or rain) and  pollinators to help them grow and reproduce.

Protecting pollinators during pest control applications.

• Government action through the EPA was taken in 2017 with the “Pollinator Protector initiative”. It is a policy protecting bees from agricultural pesticide spray and dust applications while bees are providing pollination services. To promote pollinator communities, site assessments, are also being conducted.
• The Pest Control Industry, using IPM (integrated Pest Management) strategies, looks to keeping pollinators protected by:
  • Stopping treatments while pollinators are active.
  • Keeping spray applications away from flowers directly.
  • Carefully following pesticide label directions when applying product.
  • Using alternatives to liquid applications.
  • Minimizing spray drift, by applying product as close to target pests as possible.

All of earth’s pollinators are indispensable and we can’t live without pollinators.   Corky’s Pest Control strives to keep pollinators protected while controlling unwanted pests on our customer’s properties.