The not-so-secret importance of bees
Charleston is a city made beautiful by its colorful gardens. There is a reason why visitors and natives saunter past and stare at every backyard — the city is alive with nature. The flowers, when blooming, give Charleston its vibrance.
Without a plethora of bees and other pollinators to spread the fruits of plant reproduction, the city would be barren of beauty, a place more like a black and white movie than anything in brilliant color.
These days, bees are getting more attention locally thanks, in part, to something that happened seven years ago in Dorchester County. Beekeepers and activists were shocked then when a 2016 aerial spray over Dorchester County killed millions of bees and made national news. The county sprayed for mosquitoes to prevent Zika virus in South Carolina, but county officials failed to notify beekeepers.
Lucy Davis of Mount Pleasant said the event was a turning point for beekeepers in the state.
“It caused a lot of those beekeepers to lose all of their bees,” she said.
Davis, president of the Charleston Area Beekeepers Association, said the controversial spray pushed pollinators into environmental conversations.
“People started to talk about it,” Davis said, “and they started to realize they had such an impact on us.”
The month for pollinators
June is International Pollinator Month. Local hobbyists and activists see it as a time to refocus their message on the Lowcountry and speak about its hard working creatures.
To Ben Powell, Charleston County’s Clemson Extension associate for the apiculture and pollinator program, honey bees serve as an inspiration for how to see the world.
“We focus on the big things, right? We focus on the stars, galaxies and Earth. But once you enter the world that is beneath you, you realize that there is such tremendous diversity. That’s what more people need to do.”
Although insects and many other animals pollinate, bees are the most widespread and efficient according to the National Wildlife Foundation. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show they contribute $18 billion of additional revenue each year across the country. The honey bee, for example, pollinates one-third of the food we eat.
Challenges for bees, pollinators
Many of the people who fight to protect Lowcountry bees and other pollinators such as butterflies, moths, bats and beetles say two of the biggest challenges they face in the Charleston area are aggressive mosquito abatement programs and the use of non-native plants.
Pollinators are considered to be at a “critical crossroads” by the USDA. Bee populations are gradually declining in North America and globally with one in four bee species at risk of extinction, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
“The plight of the pollinator is real,” said Tami Enright, co-founder of The Bee Cause. “Maybe this can be the hook for real change.”
Enright’s Charleston-based organization teaches and raises awareness about bees in schools across the U.S. and Canada. The organization offers schools observation hives and hands-on learning to encourage environmental awareness.
“The mosquitos are getting stronger, and the bees are getting weaker,” Enright said.
‘Contentious’ spraying
Christopher Burtt, the urban horticulture agent for Charleston County’s Clemson extension service, thinks Charleston is facing biodiversity loss and pesticide overuse.
“Right off the bat, we are dealing with significant biodiversity loss,” Burtt said.
He believes some beachfront areas of Charleston were spraying too many pesticides to create a suitable environment for tourists.
“I’m noticing where tourism is at the forefront, we are seeing that aggressiveness kind of hyped up,” he said.
Burtt said the extensive spraying was done to appease tourists and caused collateral damage to the pollinators. He said he thought the judicious use of pesticides was the best way to handle mosquitos but later added that some areas of the county like Sullivan’s Island were getting almost no insects at all.
“Mosquitos are not the only flying insects,” he said. “When we are just broadly killing off all flying insects, it tends to do some significant damage.”
Environmental experts differ on the acceptable usage of pesticides.
“It is a contentious topic down here,” Burtt said.
Mosquito abatement
The Charleston area, subtropical with rising tides and humid summers, has historically been at war with tropical diseases. An edition of The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine said colonial South Carolina gained a reputation as “one of the most unhealthy spots in British North America.” The lowlands of South Carolina were stressed as “fertile breeding grounds for the anopheles and other mosquitos.”
Ben Powell said mosquito abatement was a justifiable but sensitive topic in the Charleston area. Most bee deaths attributed to pesticide use Powell investigated were often caused by something else. He added that the death rates were very low considering the amount of mosquito abatement occurring.
What you can do
Powell believes the best way to facilitate pollinators is to create a habitat for them on your property.
“If you as a regular citizen want to help provide a habitat where you are, that will help the pollinator population rebound,” he said.
Lucy Davis called the honey bee a sentinel species — an insect that reflects environmental stress.
“A sentinel species is an animal that warns us that we are in danger,” she said. “Much like a canary in a coal mine.”
An overarching problem with pollinator sustainability, according to Davis, is people’s desire to prune their yards and use incompatible, non-native plants.
She recommends allowing your landscape to be a bit wild and not focus so much on perfection.
“Make it fun and exciting,” she said. “We have tons of cool native and diverse plants.”
Many sustainability experts recommend growing native plants as a way to help pollinators. Native plants are plant species indigenous to an area and have evolved with the climate of the area. They are key facilitators for local pollinators, according to a report by the Oregon State University extension service.
Dave Manger is the owner of Roots and Shoots Nursery in West Ashley, specializing in native plants. He said many organisms rely on native plants to survive, and the few plants that are downtown aren’t native and stunt pollinator growth.
“Everybody has their own little slice of Earth, and they could do a lot of good for our pollinators if they use that little space,” he said.
Manger advised people to “go pick a flower, go pick a native plant and plant one. See how it does.”
Five ways to build a better habitat for pollinators
Here are some tips that will help you grow and sustain a pollinator-friendly yard:
1. Use your space. Dave Manger of Roots and Shoots Nursery said most people don’t use all of their yard space. Developing more of your yard space in general helps with biodiversity.
2. Add native flowering plants to your garden. Plants that aren’t native can stifle biodiversity and insect populations. A report from the Ecological Society of America said native plants are hardy and help pollinators because they have evolved with them and support them.
3. Curb pesticides. According to the Tufts Pollinator Initiative, it is important to limit pesticide usage in your garden. A more conscious pesticide method will benefit all pollinators and plants.
4. Diversify blooming. Cultivating plants that will blossom in each season will ensure you have a biodiverse garden all year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
5. Add water. The USDA recommends including a small birdbath and keeping dead tree limbs. They will provide water and shelter for native bees.
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