Pollinators really need YOU!
If you pause for a moment in our Market this Saturday, you’ll hear lots of friendly chatter and the crackle of fresh produce being bagged. What you might not hear is the soft hum of thousands of tiny workers that make the market possible: pollinators.
Did you know:
- One in every three bites of food in the Market relies on animal pollination.
- Native Australian pollinators – blue-banded bees, stingless bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles and even tiny nectar-feeding bats – service crops that European honeybees can’t reach.
- Pollinators support 75% of global flowering plants, keeping ecosystems healthy far beyond the farm gate.
You may also have seen recent headlines about the arrival of the Varroa mite in our region. This pinhead sized parasite weakens and eventually kills honey-bee colonies and has already devastated hives overseas. Although native bees are not directly affected, a collapse in European honeybee numbers would place enormous pressure on primary production.
We need your help because pollinators are so important. A recent example of a ‘Bee-Friendly Community’ can be seen in Hall village. The ‘Bee-Friendly Community’ actively works to support pollinators through pollinator-safe planting, community education and the promotion of bee friendly practices like those listed below. If you walk the streets of Hall, you’ll see front yards full of pollinator friendly plants with signs that proudly proclaim they’re a ‘Bee Friendly Garden.’
To mark World Bee Day we’re celebrating these indispensable creatures and inviting every shopper to become a pollinator champion by;
- Planting a “pollinator palette” – clumps of blue, white, yellow and purple flowers that bloom at different times of year.
- Going chemical free.
- Providing water – a shallow dish with pebbles gives bees a safe landing pad.
- Building a bee hotel.
- Buying local honey and beeswax to support our local beekeepers battling Varroa.
Of course, you can pick up your plants and honey related products from the Market this Saturday. These, plus every bag of fruit and vegetables you carry home, are a quiet thankyou to the creatures we’re celebrating – the pollinators. We hope to see you in the Market this Saturday to celebrate World Bee Day!
