Pollinators are essential for the health and growth of our gardens. Two of the most important pollinators are bees and butterflies, both of which have declining populations due to urban growth and less vegetation for food.
Bees
Bees are beneficial to our yards because they pollinate our plants.
Bumblebees and honeybees each have distinct traits that set them apart. Bumblebees are robust, with bold yellow and black hair patterns covering their bodies, including their abdomens. In comparison, honeybees are medium-sized, with a banded abdomen ranging from tan to amber and less hair than bumblebees. Honeybees are also known for their extensive honey production, surpassing bumblebees, and for their complex social structures.
You can learn more about the differences between bumblebees and honeybees and the different characteristics of several backyard beneficial insects by reading, “Backyard Beneficial Insects in New Mexico,” published by New Mexico State University.
Butterflies
Monarchs have declined because of the loss of milkweed host plants and wild nectar plants for feeding largely due to the practices of large agricultural farms and applications of pesticides. People are the most valuable asset for conservation success, so every backyard garden is potentially important and a contributor to monarch recovery. If you have a backyard garden, add milkweeds and native nectar plants to your garden. If you want to understand the complicated natural history of monarchs, and their epic migration involving 5 generations of monarchs read Anurag Agrawal’s book, Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution.
What to plant in New Mexico
The Santa Fe Office of the Xerces Society produced a guide to the use of pollinator plants for the Albuquerque and Santa Fe region. Download their guide at https://www.npsnm.org and search pollinators.
The Torrance County Cooperative Extension Service has a weekly webinar series, Ready, Set, GROW! and a podcast to learn more about gardening in the southwest and Torrance County. Presenters will include County Extension Agents and State Extension Specialists with experience in horticulture, insects, and food. The Ready, Set, GROW! weekly webinar is on the third Wednesday of every month at 3 p.m. live on their Facebook page.