Pollinate or perish: Why bees matter

Warning: sexual content, as in insects.

I do wish I had paid more attention in high school to science, especially to botany. I was all too engrossed in the good-looking trigonometry teacher.

Now I have come to learn that pollination, which is responsible for two-thirds of our food supply, is at risk. That’s because of climate change, loss of habitat and irresponsible use of pesticides (neonics).

Here are some terms for the discussion: “Pollination: the first step in the sexual reproduction process of plants. The transfer of a pollen grain from one flower’s anthers to another flower’s stigma.” And more: “The pollen grain contains 2 male sperm. They germinate the stigma, and a pollen tube grows. The sperm travel down the tube and one of them enters a female egg, which produces a seed.” So there. I did know that good things grow from seeds. I also knew that some forward-looking people in Norway have built a Global Seed Vault on an island called Svalbard, halfway between Norway and the North Pole. It hopes to protect our future and preserve seed diversity in any natural or man-made disaster. But let’s not let it get that far.

Pollination makes the cereal crops grow, and the legume crops, and the fruit and vegetables. Pollination is achieved by animals, wind and water. The most excellent animals are the five “B’s”: beetles, bats, butterflies, bees and birds. So anything we can do to support these creatures is ultimately for our benefit.

“If you like to eat,” says National Geographic, “thank the insects, particularly the bee.”

So much I’ve been ignorant of. But when one of my friends, Jo HaywardHaines of Ennismore, who is always ahead of the curve on issues, tells me we have a problem, I listen.

The bad buzz, says HaywardHaines, is that since 2006, there has been a huge decline in pollinating species. In 2010, the Rusty-patched bee was placed on the Ontario endangered species list. That makes action urgent

Says pal Betty Borg, “I used to see swarms of bees around my apple tree. Now it’s a good day if I see two bees.”

In 2015, some concerned people formed a citizen’s initiative called Peterborough Pollinators. Like almost everything I admire, it’s volunteer. They educate. They plant. They lobby. They plan for 150 pollinator gardens in Peterborough this anniversary year. You can register yours or sign up to start one. The group meets monthly and has published an attractive 12month calendar for 2017, chock full of facts and advice for every month of the year. (www.peterboroughpollinators.com). They collaborate with many groups and with the naturalists Drew Monkman and Jacob Rodenburg who wrote that marvelous The Big Book of Nature Activities.

I learned that the Kawarthas are home to 100 species of butterflies and 100 kinds of bees. I found out that monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed after they have flown here from Mexico. I have seen pollinator gardens replace lawns.

The perennials include catnip, lavender, milkweed, bee balm, aster and sage. The virtuous veggies are tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. I now need a walkabout with an informed person. Three young women in town, Carlotta James, Megan Boyles and Kelly McDowell are committed to building pollinatorfriendly gardens through their social enterprise, Three Sisters Natural Landscapes.

It will take something of a cultural revolution for us to spurn the manicured lawn for the pollinator garden. But even I have become ill-atease at the sound of a power lawnmower. We may be on the threshold of realizing and respecting the inter-connections among all living things. We can, as they say, be part of the solution.