The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is an event that serves to provide an annual snapshot of pollinator population data while educating the public about the importance of pollinators and other beneficial insects. This year’s GSPC will be held August 23-24th and is open to citizens of all ages from Georgia and the Carolinas. Last year, we had 2 participants from Wilkes County, 2 from Lincoln County, and 0 from McCormick County. To participate in the count, you’ll simply observe a pollinator plant in your garden or somewhere in your community for 15 minutes. As you observe, you’ll identify and count the insects that land on that plant. That data then gets put into the GSEPC.org website. Identification resources and more information is available at GSEPC.org or you’re welcome to call our office at 706-359-3233 or stop by anytime.

            Pollinators play a critical role in a balanced ecosystem, agriculture and food production, and our economy. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male part of a flower to the female part of the flower, which is how many plants produce seeds and fruit. There are more than 100,000 different insects and 1,000 other species that serve as pollinators, including bees, ants, butterflies, wasps, hummingbirds, and many others. Without these, more than 225,000 different flowering plants and 150 food crops would be unable to reproduce.

            When asked about pollinators, most people think about bees – specifically, honey bees. While honey bees do a significant amount of pollination in our agricultural industries because they can easily be managed and moved to different crop sites, they are responsible for only about 1/3 of the pollination that occurs. Instead, there are more than 3,000 species of other native bees in North America doing the rest of the pollination work, often being more efficient pollinators than honey bees as a result of unique and desirable behaviors. Native bees (and pollinators in general) are often threatened by loss of habitat, food supply, and safe nesting places, as well as the misuse of pesticides.

            Some of our native pollinating bees are bumble bees, soil nesting bees, and tunnel-nesting bees. Bumble bees are social insects and very good at pollinating blueberry, tomato, eggplant, and peppers. They tend to be strong fliers and pollinate even during rainy, cool, or windy weather. Bumble bees primarily focus their activities on getting sufficient nutrition for the colony to produce new queens each summer, therefore, it’s important we provide food throughout each season (particularly mid-summer) to support their population. Soil-nesting bees tend to be solitary bees, and in GA, we see a lot of SE blueberry bees and Peponapis bees. SE blueberry bees are active earlier in the growing season than bumble bees and due to specific behaviors, are very good at pollinating blueberries. Peponapoisare bees that pollinate squash, gourds, pumpkins, and other cucurbit bees. These bees need areas of soil that are undisturbed for them to nest in as well as dependable food sources. Other tunnel-nesting bees include Osmia genus which are important for orchard fruits like apples. These bees need nest sites like abandoned beetle burrows or nail holes and adequate food sources.

            If you’re interested in helping with the Great Southeast Pollinator Census or need more information on building pollinator habitat for native species, contact our office at 706-359-3233 or uge3181@uga.edu.

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