The star of this story is a small cultivated willow tree. I noticed it in my neighbour’s yard one spring after I’d been asked by a colleague from the Native Bee Society of BC to watch willows for early bees.
Between March 19 and April 7 that spring I photographed 10 species of pollinators in that tree, and at least 10 other different insects that could not be identified to species. The bees included queens of three species of bumble bees. There were at least seven different-looking mining bees, very difficult to id to species from photos. There was an early pair of mason bees and one metallic sweat bee. The big surprize was the number of flies that are considered “bee mimics” – to the inexperienced eye they look like bumble bees. They included three species of bumble flies (Criorhina), seldom reported for our area and only during early spring. 14 of the 23 observations of this genus in iNaturalist for the entire Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region came from that one little tree during that two-week period.
This story reminds me of three key points:
- Many insects need pollen sources in early spring in order to successfully reproduce and carry on with their lives.
- We can help compensate for lost pollinator habitat by choosing garden plantings* that offer pollen from early spring through late fall.
- If we don’t look, we won’t see.
Gwen
* The Native Bee Society of BC offers a list of native plants suitable for coastal gardens. For the very earliest pollen sources, my observation in Squamish has shown that cultivated plants can offer the most: crocus, winter-blooming heathers, willow and japonica (garden pearls variety).
