Pollinators—more than just the bees Monday, June 19, 2017 Honeybees are the most prolific of all pollinators—owing mostly to their hairy bodies that carry plenty of pollen from flower to flower. But pollinators are not limited to honeybees, or even insects. While lizards and lemurs are important pollinators in other parts of the world, in the U.S. it is mostly limited to insects, birds, and bats. Of course, pollinators are not in it for our sake. They are after a meal for themselves, their colonies, and their young. But what is good for them, is good for us. While collecting their meals, they carry pollen containing genetic material required for plant reproduction from flower to flower, continuing the life cycle of everything from wildflowers to food crops that end up in the grocery stores and on American dinner tables. In fact, one of every three bites of food we eat as Americans, we owe to pollinators. Everything from apples to almonds rely almost exclusively on polli...
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