BEElieve in Change

Threats to Pollinators

Pollinators are facing serious threats from the overuse of chemical pesticides and herbicides, habitat loss, and climate change. According to researchers at UGA's Honey Bee Program, neonicotinoid pesticides are a leading cause of colony collapse disorder, the sudden die off of entire hives that have shocked beekeepers across the country and right here in Georgia. The Mother Nature Network reports:

"Neonicotinoids are one of the most serious causes of downward negative pressure on pollinators," according to Keith Delaplane, a professor of entomology and director of the Honey Bee Program at the University of Georgia.

Bees either die suddenly when they come in contact with pesticides on treated plants or they take pollen laced with pesticides back to their hives where the entire colony is threatened.

#savethebees from Francesca Cattaneo on Vimeo.

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in the common herbicide Roundup, is devastating monarch butterfly populations by destroying crucial habitat like native milkweed, which the butterflies rely on to house and feed their young. Researchers have encouraged people to plant native milkweed to help.

The problems facing pollinators are only compounded by the pressures added by climate change and other factors, but with your help, the Sierra Club has pushed federal and state agencies, including at Cooper Creek, to cut back on their use of chemical herbicides and to better protect our wild spaces. Now, it's your turn to take action at home. Take some of the simple actions listed below to create a pollinator friendly world.

What Can You Do?

1. Plant a pollinator garden

• Choose native varieties that aren't treated with pesticides
• Grow organically-feed with compost and don't use chemical pest or weed control
• Grow in the ground or in containers
• Pollinators love a variety of flowering plants, including:
  • Fruits and vegetables: squash, cucumber, cantaloupe, blueberries, raspberries
  • Trees and shrubs: sourwood, dogwood, redbud, elderberry, peach
  • Flowers: coneflower, marigolds, cockscomb, sunflower

Resources

• Why to conserve bees and a list of bee-friendly plants
• Selecting plants for pollinators guide for the southeast
• Five steps to a bee-friendly garden
• Native plant sales in Georgia
• Pollinator decline poses risks to major crops
• Potential rebound in Monarch Butterfly populations
• The Pollinator Partnership
• Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association
• GSU Perimeter College Native Plant Botanical Garden