Lend a hand all year long, to help out your butterflies, bees and other pollinators

Wisconsinites are encouraged to help native pollinators, during Pollinator Week, June 16-22, and year-round, with a few simple lawn care habits, volunteering and supporting the Endangered Resources Fund. Most of Wisconsin’s pollinators are bees (Wisconsin has over 400 native species, including 20 bumble bee species), butterflies and moths. The state’s pollinators also include hummingbirds, and some beetles and flies. These animals and other pollinators visit flowering plants, and transfer pollen from flower to flower. This practice helps plants grow fruits and seeds, and encourages genetic diversity. Wisconsin is an important part of the remaining habitat for the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee, and is also the state with the largest remaining population of Karner blue butterflies. Between these two rare insects and the hundreds of other pollinators in Wisconsin, caring for natural areas, and lawns and gardens can help. “Whether you become a volunteer or practice lawn care that’s free from pesticides, there are small ways anyone can help,” said Jay Watson, DNR insect ecologist. In addition to supporting rare pollinators, flowering plants provide food to common pollinators, other insects, people and wildlife. They also support healthy ecosystems, that clean the air and stabilize soil. Despite the importance of native pollinators, many are facing population declines. The following are some ways Wisconsinites can help pollinators: • Plant native plants and trees. Early blooming trees are an important food source for bumble bee queens, emerging from hibernation and many other insects, which, in turn, provide food for birds and bats. Flowers that bloom throughout the growing season, like columbine, bee balm and goldenrod, fill a garden with colors for months, while providing food to pollinators. • Add host plants for butterfly larvae that work with the sun and soil in the yard. Many butterflies depend on specific plants for their lifecycles, like milkweeds (monarchs), violets (meadow fritillary) or dill, fennel and parsley (black swallowtails). • Provide shelter. Pollinators need safe places to rest, avoid bad weather and spend the winter. Maintain brush and leaf piles, and avoid trimming hollow-stemmed plants through the winter. • Maintain a yard free from pesticides and herbicides. Insecticides can harm or kill pollinators, and herbicides can kill the plants they need to survive. • Become a trained volunteer with the Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade, Wisconsin Karner Blue Butterfly Volunteer Monitoring Program or Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. • Sign up for the State Natural Areas Volunteer Program. Volunteers clear brush, remove invasive species and collect native seeds. • Support pollinator conservation, efforts with a donation to the Endangered Resources Fund.