Featured image: prunus miner bee on Oregon grape, by Carol McDougall.
Pollinating insects transfer pollen from male to female plants, resulting in the development of fruits and seeds. More than 1/3 of the food we and other creatures eat is created by the work of pollinators. Since the creation of the Nature Stewards program in 2021, GaLTT has been encouraging islanders to conserve and add native plants to their properties to encourage these beneficial insects. A recent visit to Nanaimo airport reinforced this idea.
“We were one of the first airports to work with the registered charity Pollinator Partnership Canada to support pollinating bees and native biodiversity… Pollinator Partnership Canada worked with Satinflower Nurseries and with Nanaimo Airport Commission to create a pollinator garden near the main entrance of the Air Terminal Building. We removed non-native vegetation and replaced them with local and native species.”
In 2022 and 2023, pollinator specialists observed both the pollinator garden and nearby ornamental garden over a two hour span on two days. The statistics are startling. In the pollinator garden, 484 bees from ten different species visited while only 6 bumble bees fed on plants in the ornamental garden. You can read about the project and the plants they put in on the Satinflower Nursery website.
Meanwhile on Gabriola, local naturalist Carol McDougall has posted observations of two solitary, ground dwelling bees, on iNaturalist. The variable pebble bee (Dianthidium subparvum) was observed primarily feeding on entire-leaved gumweed.
Carol observed that a second bee, “the prunus miner bee (Andrena prunorum) is a ‘plant specific’ bee that prefers pollen from the Rosaceae family of plants, but is known to pollinate fruit trees. I have seen it many times on the beneficial, naturalized Cherry Plums growing in the restoration area as well as on Oregon Grape in Drumbeg.”
Some pollinators only feed on specific native plants, such as snowberry or asters so it is essential we plant a variety of native species.
As the Nanaimo Airport Commission says, “creating habitat with native plants is the most important way that companies and individuals can support these essential creatures (pollinators)”. For resources in our area, check the pollinator steward webinars at Pollinator Partnership.
