PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

ENCORE: The crucial role pollinators play in our ecosystems and our lives

A common yellow swallow tail butterfly (Papilio machaon) and a bee of unknown species on yellow flowers.
Prosthetic Head
/
Wikimedia Commons
A common yellow swallow tail butterfly (Papilio machaon) and a bee of unknown species on yellow flowers.

Florida's primary pollinators are insects, birds, and bats. Insects are the most common, including bees, butterflies, wasps, ants, flies, moths, and even beetles.

Pollinators are responsible for assisting about 80% of the world's flowering plants to reproduce, and that includes quite a few crops grown for food.

So, it’s fair to say that pollinators play a crucial role in not only our ecosystems, but our economies and lives.

We learn about the work being done by pollinators all around us, and get some tips on how to attract them to our yard, and how to keep from harming them by misusing pesticides.

GUEST:
Jonael Bosques is an Agriculture Agent & the County Extension Director with the UF/IFAS Extension office in Hardee County.

Click here to learn about ways to attract bees to your yard.

Click here to learn about ways to attract butterflies to your yard.

Click here for a guide to planting wildflowers in Florida yards.

Click here to learn about safely using pesticides in your yard.

Click here to listen to our show on Florida's native plasterer bees and efforts to recruit the public in tracking them.