Are Pollinators Being Supported in Newton?

By Richard B. Primack  

 

“The effect of a good government is to make life more valuable – of a bad government to make it less valuable.”  Henry David Thoreau in his Journal. 

 

 

Is Newton -- replete with public open spaces, private landscapes, and ever more pollinator gardens -- adequately supporting its native pollinators? Are non-native European honeybees competing with or harming our native insect pollinators? The City of Newton is asking these questions as it considers new regulations that would restrict honeybee numbers on public and private land.  

Honeybees and bumblebees on ornamental onions in a private garden.

To investigate this topic, from June to October 2022 Selby Vaughn, Katia Landauer, and I systematically visited Newton’s natural areas and gardens to determine what flowers native insects and honeybees are visiting. 

 

Giant black wasp visiting swamp milkweed flowers in Wellington Park.

Most pollinators were found on the biggest displays of flowers, primarily non-native cultivated plants on private and public property. Pollinators also visited native and non-native plants flowering in Newton’s forests, wetland meadows, and fields. 

 

Carpenter bees visiting coast pepperbush flowers in Webster Woods.

We saw surprisingly few native butterfly species visiting flowers, perhaps due to dearth of appropriate nectar sources and the effects of the drought.  

 

Tiger swallowtail butterfly visiting Joe Pye weed flowers in a pollinator garden. 

Our observations of mixtures of honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees on flowers throughout Newton suggests that native pollinator populations and honeybees can co-exist. It remains unknown how native pollinator populations would change if the number of honeybee hives increased or decreased.  

Introduced cabbage butterflies and honeybees visiting non-native purple loosestrife flowers in the Webster Woods.

In addition to regulating honeybee hives,  Newton residents and the City should also consider protecting, managing, and expanding flower and habitat resources, including larger and more diverse pollinator gardens, that native pollinators need in order to thrive.  

 

Bumblebee visiting mountain mint flowers at the City Hall pollinator garden. 

See the following for a longer treatment of this topic: 

 

https://newtonconservators.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Newsletter-2022-Fall-.pdf