Ed Flanagan Pollinator Garden
About Ed Flanagan
While serving 24 years as CEO at Wyman’s of Maine, Ed was a leader in the effort to save the honeybees and delivered testimony to a Congressional hearing on USDA funding for bee health. Under Ed’s leadership, Wyman’s has grown to be a national leader in bee conservation. “No bees, no berries.”
The Need for Pollinators
One out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators. Between 75-95% of all flowering plants need help with pollination. In addition to the food that we eat, pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife.
Many pollinator populations are in decline. This decline is attributed to loss in feeding and nesting habitats. Pollution, misuse of chemicals, disease, and changes in climatic patterns are all contributing to shrinking pollinator populations.
How You Can Help
Pollinators need help. Conservation techniques work. If everyone made an effort, we could change the future for pollinators and secure our own.
- Plant a pollinator garden of your own.
- Provide water. All wildlife, including pollinators, need water.
- Reduce chemical misuse and employ natural pest controls.
- Reduce your area of lawn grass and replace it with wild meadow. Grass lawns offer little food or shelter for most wildlife, including pollinators.
- Plants native to your area are adapted to your soil type, climate, precipitation, and local pollinators!