Seven Days published an article titled "The Bees Needs", June 23. The pollinator Issue was brilliant, as was Mike Kiernan's comment, "It's in diversity that we'll find resilience," and Spencer Hardy's: "There's so much basic stuff we don't know about bees."
Pollinators and biodiversity are appearing more and more on folks' radar, perhaps just in time, as we recognize the incredible value we receive from nature and begin to respond in kind.
It is time we get to know a little about the pollinators and what we can do to provide them more of the habitat they need.
So, after planting Vermont's historic (native) plants for five years, I am now observing and cataloging insect species in our backyard. I have walked 100 miles in our one-acre backyard, and still, surprises await me every day. In one month alone, I observed 133 species of insects. Posting photos of them on iNaturalist allows me to view them closely and learn their names. Every day some of them wow me.
The more we know about the life around us, the more we will appreciate the services they provide and the almost incomprehensible beauty of sight and behavior that life exhibits.
Observing insect life in our backyards gives us the chance to get to know our natural-world neighbors, who do so very much for us. It is like going to the zoo, without the cages, to see a diversity of life in its natural habitat and bring home photos to share with neighbors and friends - and scientists.
Visit iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org
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