Hummingbirds Pollinate Plants too!

Hummingbirds make fantastic pollinators because they feed so frequently. They visit up to 2,000 flowers a day. With their needle-like bill and long, forked tongues, hummingbirds can lick nectar and draw it up into their throats. Pollen gets stuck to their beaks and heads and is transferred from one flower to the next, aiding in plant propagation. Attract hummingbirds to your garden with plants that have brightly colored, tubular-shaped flowers, such as these natives: Salvia, Penstemon, Firebush, Honeysuckle and Carolina Jessamine. (Hummingbird photo by Dulcey Lima).

Nectar Robbers

 

Theft isn’t limited to our society; crime also exists in the world of bees in the form of nectar robbing. Carpenter and bumble bees are the most common thieves in this respect as they sometimes find themselves too big to fit inside tubular-shaped flowers. When this happens, a bee will bite the base of a petal and insert its tongue (proboscis) to drink the nectar. Scientists call this “robbing the nectar” because these clever insects are “cheating” pollination. But who can blame a hungry bee for performing this ingenious maneuver?

Do Bees Sleep?

 Bees need to rest and sleep at night just like we do! Male bees find a cozy flower to rest on since they don’t have a nest for a home. They hold on to flowers with their mandibles or legs and stay there overnight. You might be lucky enough to catch a bee sleeping on a flower if you take an early morning walk in your garden. A bumblebee sleeping on a daisy-like flower called Gaillardia or blanket flower. 

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It's Pollinator Week - June 20-26!!! Support pollinators and celebrate how they help us! Do something special for them in order to provide a healthy environment for these creatures. Some ideas: Plant native plants and stop using pesticides. More ideas are available from the Pollinator Partnership, the organization that initiated and manages pollinator week. 

Mighty Moths!

     Mighty moths! Nature's nighttime pollinators. After dark, moths take over the night shift for pollination.      Flowers that only open at night attract moths with their heavily-fragranced flowers that are pale in color.      This Spotted Oleander Caterpillar moth pollinates during the daytime as not all moths are nocturnal. 

 

 

Colorful Coreopsis!

Coreopsis has more than 80 species to choose from and is valued for its summer-long blooms and low maintenance. Pollinators love them and so will you! This bee loves an Uptick Gold and Bronze Coreopsis prized for its colorful flowers.