If you stroll around Harvest Farm Community Garden, observing carefully, you’ll see an array of pollinators busy doing their work. They’re concerned with feeding themselves, but in the process they pick up and drop off pollen, a necessary step in producing lots of the varieties you’ve planted there. You may even be able to see the pollen collected on the legs or abdomen of some bee species. Pollinators, including honey bees, bumblebees, other species of social and solitary bees, hornets, and many fly species, among others, are an essential part of our food yield. Strawberries, beans, tomatoes and peppers – even snapdragons – and lots more, are drawing pollinators to the garden in droves. So, rather than fearing or attempting to eliminate any of these critters, say thanks, protect them and enjoy the fruits of their work.
– Carol Hassell