Pollinators receive proclamation
USDA has declared this week, June 17-27, National Pollinator Week to celebrate pollinators as an essential partner in the food system.
More than 100 different crops depend on pollinators, including bats, birds, bees and other insects, for production.
Apiculture educator Ana Heck with Michigan State University Extension tells Brownfield one of the best ways to support pollinators is to provide them with forage. “Anything that people can do whether it’s a small amount of space or a much larger amount of space, to plant for pollinators and increase their habitat and forage can really support pollinators and their health,” she says.
While there are approximately 4,000 species of native bees in the United States, honeybee pollination adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually.