What is a Native Pollinator? By Ed Powers
Courtesy Living on earth/Male Broad throated Hummingbird visiting Colorado Flowers Native pollinators are those species that are native to a specific region. To the Native Pollinators in Agriculture Project, that region is North America. The Leafcutter bees, Digger Bees, Acute-Tongued Burrowing Bees Sweat Bees and more than up to 24 species of bumble bees are a few of the native Pollinators in Colorado. Pollinators include bees, insects, birds, and other animals that move pollen from one flower to another, thereby fertilizing plants and allowing them to reproduce. The Leafcutter bee and numerous bumble bees are examples of native pollinators. Native, or “wild”, bees are distinct from managed bees, which were introduced to North America and are kept today by beekeepers in the United States for their honey, beeswax, and pollination services. The European honey bee is the primary managed pollinator in the U.S. today. Courtesy of agpollinators.org/ Bumble bee on sunflower Thoug