Let's Celebrate National Pollinator Week
By: Hillary Harrison, Recreation Specialist
What did you have for breakfast this morning? I had avocado toast with a side of strawberries and blueberries and a hot cup of coffee. This is a typical breakfast for me and one of my favorite parts of my day. Every once in a while, I remember to take a moment and thank the amazing pollinators of our world for providing me with this breakfast. If it wasn’t for pollinators like bees, bats, beetles, and butterflies, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my favorite foods because they just wouldn’t exist.
Pollinators are extremely important in our world. It is estimated that about ⅓ of the world’s food and beverages would not exist if not for these amazing creatures. In the United States alone, pollinators help produce $20 billion worth of food every year. The week of June 22-28, 2020 is National Pollinator Week. This week the nation is celebrating the vast array of animals on Earth who contribute so much to our world and our health.
We invite you to join in on the celebration of pollinators with us this week! Below are three simple ways you can make the world a brighter, better place for these amazing creatures.
Plant a pollinator plant
Including pollinator plants in your outdoor space is a simple, inexpensive way to provide food for pollinator species. Choosing native plants in a variety of colors and sizes can attract many different bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects to your space. Perennial flowers such as coneflowers and flowering sage will come back year after year without much effort, while annuals like cosmos and zinnias will only last for the summer, but can provide months of blooms to attract beautiful butterflies and bumbling bees.
Install a hummingbird feeder
Hummingbirds migrate each year from the tropics in the winter to our warm North Carolina summers. Installing a hummingbird feeder provides them with much needed food and energy after a long flight. Make your own hummingbird food easily by mixing 4 parts warm water to 1 part sugar. Let the food cool before filling your feeder and hanging it outside. *Be sure to clean and refill your feeder once a week, as the warmth of the sun will ferment the sugar water and make it harmful to hummingbirds.
Make a butterfly puddler
Butterflies rely on shallow puddles in nature not only for hydration, but to gain access to important salts and other minerals. Puddles in sand and dirt are full of these minerals, allowing the butterflies to drink water and take in these vital nutrients. You can provide butterflies with a puddle in your outdoor space with a homemade puddler that can be refilled to provide them with water even when we haven’t had rain recently.
Help us celebrate National Pollinator Week! For more information about how you can get involved, visit the Pollinator website.
What did you have for breakfast this morning? I had avocado toast with a side of strawberries and blueberries and a hot cup of coffee. This is a typical breakfast for me and one of my favorite parts of my day. Every once in a while, I remember to take a moment and thank the amazing pollinators of our world for providing me with this breakfast. If it wasn’t for pollinators like bees, bats, beetles, and butterflies, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my favorite foods because they just wouldn’t exist.Pollinators are extremely important in our world. It is estimated that about ⅓ of the world’s food and beverages would not exist if not for these amazing creatures. In the United States alone, pollinators help produce $20 billion worth of food every year. The week of June 22-28, 2020 is National Pollinator Week. This week the nation is celebrating the vast array of animals on Earth who contribute so much to our world and our health.
We invite you to join in on the celebration of pollinators with us this week! Below are three simple ways you can make the world a brighter, better place for these amazing creatures.
Plant a pollinator plant
Including pollinator plants in your outdoor space is a simple, inexpensive way to provide food for pollinator species. Choosing native plants in a variety of colors and sizes can attract many different bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects to your space. Perennial flowers such as coneflowers and flowering sage will come back year after year without much effort, while annuals like cosmos and zinnias will only last for the summer, but can provide months of blooms to attract beautiful butterflies and bumbling bees.Install a hummingbird feeder
Hummingbirds migrate each year from the tropics in the winter to our warm North Carolina summers. Installing a hummingbird feeder provides them with much needed food and energy after a long flight. Make your own hummingbird food easily by mixing 4 parts warm water to 1 part sugar. Let the food cool before filling your feeder and hanging it outside. *Be sure to clean and refill your feeder once a week, as the warmth of the sun will ferment the sugar water and make it harmful to hummingbirds.
Make a butterfly puddler
Butterflies rely on shallow puddles in nature not only for hydration, but to gain access to important salts and other minerals. Puddles in sand and dirt are full of these minerals, allowing the butterflies to drink water and take in these vital nutrients. You can provide butterflies with a puddle in your outdoor space with a homemade puddler that can be refilled to provide them with water even when we haven’t had rain recently.
Help us celebrate National Pollinator Week! For more information about how you can get involved, visit the Pollinator website.
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