Pollinators need our help. These useful insects, especially those living in big cities, have an increasingly difficult life.
Recently, quite a funny situation happened to me. Quite accidentally and rather for decorative purposes, I hung bird boxes in my garden. This year in early spring, right after warm and sunny days, one of the boxes was settled, but not by birds.
The new tenant was a bumblebee.
Bumblebees are wild cousins of bees and belong to the family of bees. They are very active and effective pollinators of many flowers and are not aggressive towards people.
Among wild bee insects, the bumblebees are of the greatest importance as pollinators of legumes.
Bumblebees are characterized by very fast work on flowers - 3 to 5 times faster than bees.
They are also more resistant to unfavorable weather conditions, they can fly during cold weather and fine rain.
Their working day is much longer than a bees and they start flights earlier than other pollinators. Unfortunately, their number in nature has a downward trend. The reason for this is mainly chemization.
The pollinators in the city are essential.
They are important for proper functioning in garden plots, parks and other green areas of the city - pollinated trees give seeds that feed on birds.
Unfortunately, in the cities, the costs of maintaining green spaces, cause that large areas of lawns appear more often in places where trees, bushes and perennials have so far grown, which negatively affects the biological diversity of the plant and animal world - which causes that pollinators in the city have less and less natural habitats and hiding places.
In the center of large cities there is usually little space for greenery, but balcony, terrace, small yard garden are a place where you can plant a honey plants liked by pollinators and provide them with good living conditions.
It's very simple, but you have to remember the three most important rules:
Plant honey plants
Create a shelter
Do not use chemicals!
Honey plants, flowering at different dates - like a spring bulb plants, summer lavenders and cosmos as well as autumn heather and chrysanthemums lure pollinators.
Even one flowerpot with plants liked by them can provide food for a several insects.
If our balcony from spring to autumn looks like a colorful meadow, pollinators will have more food for longer.
Pollinators love these flowering plants: asters, scallions, dahlias, catnip, crocuses, lavender, marigolds, nasturtiums, stonecrops, roses, vines, heather and briar, and many blooming herbs.
In addition to the source of food, they also need shelter from cold and rain. These may be a insects hotels or a bird house.
Pollinators are very important to us as a whole of the natural environment and part of global supply chain.