Pollinators in the Garden

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.” Henry David Thoreau

 

This spring, we are starting a new project to determine the types of insects visiting flowers at the Arnold Arboretum. A first impression is that the garden has huge resources of flowers, but relatively few flower visitors.

Photo 1: In spring, flowers cover a sand pear at the Arboretum.

 

A key feature of this project is training and working with volunteers, many of whom were participants in the earlier Tree Spotter program.

Photo 2: Volunteers in front of a flowering yoshino cherry tree.

 

The most common flower visitors are European honey bees, collecting both pollen and nectar. Many of the flowering trees and shrubs had no flower visitors during our periods of observation.  

Photo 3: A honey bee collecting nectar from a cherry flower.

  

To help the volunteers, we prepared a guide to groups of flower visitors.

Photo 4: Guide for insect identification.