There's nothing greater than a...
- izzygrin1
- Mar 15, 2021
- 2 min read
Pollinator!
And as everyone knows bees are amazing pollinators. Usually when we think of bees we picture the hive dwelling Honey Bees however the majority of Bee species are actually solitary. In the UK alone there are over 270 species of Bee of which 250 are solitary. Together all bee species are invaluable to humans and the World around us. The pollination services they provide not only secures the health of our environment but also plays a major role in food production. For example, the pollination of Almonds is 100% dependent on bees and so almond growers pay bee keepers to supply them with Honey bees to pollinate their trees.
Whilst Honey bees are used commercially to pollinate food crops. All bee species are important for our food and ecosystem. This is because groups of pollinators (or individual pollinator species) become specialized to pollinate particular plant groups or (individual plant species). For example the tomato plant requires vibration to release its pollen and thus can only be efficiency pollinated by bumble bees which vibrate at the required frequency. This matched plant and pollinator relationship occurs because of co-evolution, this is when the plant and pollinator each evolves in response to selective pressure from the other. They evolve together because their relationship is mutually beneficial; the pollinator spreads the pollen allowing plants to reproduce and in turn gets a reward from the plant such as nectar.
For example if we had a plant with flowers varying from yellow to white but a pollinator that was attracted to yellow flowers then the plants with the yellow flowers would be more able to reproduce. This would mean that overtime the number of yellow flowered versions of that plant would increase until yellow became the default. Similarly, if this yellow flower had a narrow opening in which to collect nectar and pollen then any narrower bodied individuals of the pollinator species would be more successful in terms of getting food and pollinating the plant. As more of the narrow bodied versions would survive to reproduce, the number of narrow bodied individuals like the yellow flowers would increase until that body shape became default.
Overtime these changes lead to plants and pollinators becoming somewhat reliant on each other meaning that if one became extinct the other may also which would have a detrimental impact on the ecosystem relying on them. For instance the loss would impact herbivorous animals relying on the plant for food and the animals that prey on them. Ultimately a high diversity of pollinators means a high diversity of plants and together mean a high diversity of other life and healthy ecosystems. The diversity of plants also provides us humans with food supplies, medicines and clean air!
Its really easy to support a diversity of pollinators such as bees at home by including pollinator friendly plants in your garden or in window boxes. Particularly lovely and inexpensive are native wildflowers.
If you live in the UK you can get free seeds for bees from 38 degrees. Using the link below:
For examples on what to plant try the following sites:
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