Pollinators are Important!

Over $1.2 billion of Canadian horticultural produce depends upon insects for pollination. Without insect helpers, we would have no apples, pears, cucumbers or melons. Sunflower and safflower would be impossible to grow, and strawberries would be extremely expensive.

There are over a thousand species of pollinating insects in Canada, but of these only five are used domestically (honeybees, mason bees, certain bumblebees and two kinds of flies for greenhouse pollination). The others are essential to gardeners and farmers too, but little is known about their populations and their habits.

Sadly, domesticated honeybees are suffering severely from an epidemic of parasitic mites that threaten not only the honey industry, but also the fruit and vegetable produce that depends on this very important pollinator. Pollination has always been taken for granted, but it is a resource that may need to be managed in the future. We need to understand these important insects better!

Wild pollinators are “keystone species”, meaning that most other species in their ecosystems depend on them, either directly or indirectly. Plants depend on pollinators to help them make seeds for their reproduction, and birds and other animals depend on those seeds for food too. Without wild insects pollinating flowers, the whole food chain suffers.