A summer garden buzzing with bees, butterflies flitting among the blooms—it’s a heavenly sight, and a hallmark of a healthy environment. As they travel from flower to flower, feeding on their nectar, these insects are doing another necessary task: transferring pollen from one blossom to another, allowing them to morph into fruits and seeds, safeguarding the cycle of life.
Unfortunately, populations of these and other pollinators have been declining for decades. As a result, there’s a movement to encourage homeowners to replenish pollinator-friendly food sources in their yards. While honeybees have gotten a lot of press—bees are the only species that actively collect pollen rather than transfer it passively—there are about 4,000 native bee species in North America, not to mention myriad species of butterflies, wasps, flies, beetles, and nectar-loving hummingbirds that are all pollination workhorses.
Here’s what you can do to protect them.
Gardening for pollinators can be as easy as taking four simple steps: planting a few easily found perennials to attract and nourish these species, adding a water source to keep them healthy, waiting until
