LIMA — With statistics showing that honey bee colonies are in decline, one way groups have been working to help bees is by planting pollinators, native plants that produce pollen and nectar bees use to pollinate other plants and provide food for the hive. On Wednesday, Keep Allen County Beautiful, thanks to a donation from Keep America Beautiful, provided three pollinator plants to the Allen County Children’s Garden in an effort to attract honey bees to the garden in a symbiotic relationship, helping both the plants and local bee colonies.
“Actually, just this month, nine species of bees in Hawaii have been put on the endangered species list,” according to Gretchen Staley, volunteer coordinator for the Allen County Master Gardeners. “So they really are threatened, and even though there are 20,000 species of bees in the world and our plants do also get pollinated by butterflies and other species like that, they are very species-specific on what plants they pollinate, so the loss of one of those species of bees can take an entire family of plants off our dinner tables.”
Keep Allen County Beautiful donated an oakleaf hydrangea “amethyst,” a witch hazel and a Sweetspire “Henry’s Garnet” plant to the garden, selected specifically to provide sources of pollen in multiple seasons. Witch hazel plants can supply pollen in the winter months, blooming in late winter. That pollen can help sustain hives until the first new blooms of spring.
“We do get funding and we have grant opportunities for beautification projects, and that’s what Keep America Beautiful was founded on,” according to Cathy Clark, executive director for Keep Allen County Beautiful. “These are native species that can help attract pollinators to the garden.”
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