Nature Scoop February 2022
Bumblebee on New England Aster
American bumblebees no longer live in Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oregon. Other states have declared steep declines (for instance, New York had a decline of 99%). These black and yellow bumblebees used to be a common site, but in the U.S., they have declined 89% since 2002. Why? Climate change, pesticide use, disease, habitat loss and competition from honey bees were listed as causes for their facing extinction in the Endangered Species Act's petition. Honey bee competition and habitat loss coincide as you read in October's Nature Scoop.
We can help them by discontinuing the use of pesticides and by educating our friends and neighbors to stop. We can discontinue the use of large, manufactured bee houses that perpetuate disease. If we have honey bee hives, we can plant adequate native flowers for them so that non-native honey bees won't compete for the native bumblebee's habitat. These flowers also keep the honey bees from spreading disease to native bumblebees, and store CO2 in the ground to help slow climate change. We can plant native plants that flower from early spring to late fall to create bumblebee habitat in our yards. See lists by area and by bloom season; after you click on your list, click on the blue rectangular boxes on the right for web or print version. The native plants that feed the most specialist native bee babies (e.g., squash bees) in most parts of the country are Perennial Sunflowers, Goldenrods, Native Willows, Asters and Blueberries. These plants also feed the generalist native bee babies (e.g., bumblebees).
Losing the American bumblebee could cause serious repercussions to our economy, food supply and environment. They are able to pollinate in very cold weather, making them essential to spring crop pollination. The bumblebees are able to perform buzz pollination needed by certain crops (e.g., tomatoes), which honey bees cannot. There's hope. Other wildlife has sprung back from the brink of extinction. For example, eagles rebounded when people stopped using DDT, a chemical that caused eggshell thinning. Learn more.
- Plant trees where they won't shade out your garden when the trees become full grown
- Planning: How to Design a Better Wildlife Garden
- Planning: Plant native plants that flower from early spring to late fall. See the link above to see lists by area and by bloom season
- Planning: Let's Regenerate Biodiversity by Planting Native
- Planning: How to manage your forest to help wildlife
- Five Tips to Garden for Wildlife from David Mizejewski
- Signs of Good Garden Care (How to meet the neighbors half way)
- Neighbor-Friendly Wildlife Gardening Tips
- Skunks are mating in February-March and have poor eyesight, so please watch the roads for them
- How to Prune Young Shade Trees DIY (Best when dormant, after the coldest part of winter)
- Help Robins with cut-up dried fruit like cranberries (don't use raisins, which are toxic to pets), pieces of suet and chipped black-oil sunflower seeds without the hulls that their beak cannot break. Include frost-free water for drinking
- Bluebird houses: Transparent fishing line (monofilament) parallel to the hole deters house sparrows from killing bluebirds and other cavity nesting birds in their houses. Read how
- If you left spring bird nesting houses up for winter roosting, remove any weather stripping put on ventilation holes before early spring and replace monofilament on bluebird houses. Make any necessary repairs
- Put up clean, bird nesting box(es) before early spring (in northern parts of the country, by mid-March; in southern parts, by February) following these tips
- Bird feeder maintenance
- Grow food organically
- Butterfly seasonal projects; host and nectar plants and identification guide for Ohio area
- Five Ways We Can Help Western Monarchs
- Plant common Narrow-Leaved Milkweed instead of Tropical Milkweed in California for Western Monarchs. Here is additional California native milkweed information
- Keep birds and other wildlife safe by keeping your cat or dog on a leash when outside your home
- 11 Tips to Keep Your Indoor Cat Happy
- Container Gardening: Rain Garden native plants should work well in pots because their roots are shorter, and they can be watered regularly. Look for plants that are shorter when mature
- A simple improvement to our environment is to dispose properly of cigarette butts, which are toxic to wildlife
- Count the birds in your yard from 2/18-2/21 and report them to the Great Backyard Bird Count to help scientists help birds
Please send your backyard conservation educational event with a link the month prior to the registration deadline (e.g. May 1 for June issue)
- Would you please email me if your group would like to schedule a ZOOM presentation by a National Wildlife Federation certified Habitat Ambassador at no cost?
Other Ohio Nature Events
Please send your backyard conservation educational event with a link the month prior to the registration deadline (e.g. May 1 for June issue)
- Now-3/27, Tree and Plant Sale, Franklin SWCD, Franklin County only
- 2/12, Winter Twig Program, Wild Ones Columbus
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