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<DIV class=category sizset="30" sizcache="10"><A href="http://www.kcet.org/living/food/food-rant/">Food Rant</A> </DIV>
<H2 class=entry-title sizset="31" sizcache="10"><A href="http://www.kcet.org/living/food/food-rant/celebrate-national-pollinator-week.html" rel=bookmark><FONT size=6>Celebrate National Pollinator Week </FONT></A></H2>
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<DIV class=byline sizset="32" sizcache="10" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Person">by <SPAN class="vcard author" sizset="32" sizcache="10"><A href="http://www.kcet.org/user/profile/rpaulas" rel=author><SPAN itemprop="name"><STRONG><FONT color=#e93848>Rick
Paulas</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></A></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=entry-date>on <ABBR class=published title=2013-06-20T10:19:46-08:00>June 20, 2013 10:19 AM</ABBR></DIV></DIV><!--.entry-header-->
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<DIV style="WIDTH: 600px" class="mt-image-none entry-image-container" sizset="33" sizcache="10" jQuery1371862560109="9"><IMG alt="" src="http://www.kcet.org/living/food/image/assets/pollinate1-600.jpg" width=600 height=400>
<DIV class=caption sizset="33" sizcache="10">Photo by <A href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/binaryape/2796662358/sizes/z/in/photolist-5g8Chw-9oj8Fh-9ogiwR-5g4ifp-82LCqj-5aHQMZ-4Sr7QG-acFYyu-4SmT5t-8YXp5J-4u2Jt-datj86-datkmW-2Zr5qq-cN11Uq-fTio9-i7gAB-a8BEa9-7WyR2f-a4sXaq-tZn2H-a8yLAT-7XMh4h-cB9v8q-8szYXf-2hogtn-9pq2Bj-5bN5KL-56m6SY-7XJ1ar-4W5yFg-4W9Prf-4W9N5Y-4W9PYS-4W5xgZ-4W9QAL-6NcFvQ-ceHWmo-tZn22-3NtdP-3NtdR-3NtdQ-4z7P7-2BkwmN-5dF2zM-84Tx58-2xchzn-5ucjdA-89S1JG-4Sr7nf-4SmTDa/"><FONT color=#e93848>binaryape</FONT></A></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P>Everyone remembers their first bee sting. </P>
<P>For me, it was on a family trip when I was 11 years old. (I can date it
accurately because my friend's dad was exhaustively playing Bruce Springsteen's
newest album "Human Touch.") I was climbing a rock wall near a river, trying to
get a good grasp on my hold, when all of a sudden what felt like a sharp point
of the rock stuck me in my ring finger. I withdrew, forced myself to complete
the climb, and by the time I was at the top of the landing my finger was the
size of a bratwurst. </P>
<P sizset="34" sizcache="10">I hated bees that day, and for some time after.
It's a common feeling among youngsters who have suddenly been exposed to a
creature that can cause that much pain. And unfortunately, it's a fear that not
a lot of people grow out of. (Watch any grown adult who's just had their ear
buzzed by a bee for proof.) The problem is that, instead of fearing bees, we
need to learn their importance and help protect them. Which is the goal of <A href="http://naturalhistorywanderings.com/2013/06/14/2013-national-pollinator-week-june-17-to-23/"><FONT color=#e93848>National Pollinator Week</FONT></A>, which started on Monday and
runs through the end of the week. </P>
<P>The biggest thing to understand about pollinators is just where they fit into
our own lives. You see, like the rest of us mammals, plants like flowers,
cucumbers, and melons need to have certain parts from a male and certain parts
from a female in order to reproduce. However, unlike the more mobile lifeforms
on the planet, the only way for the male bits and pieces to get into the female
bits and pieces is with a little assistance from the outside. Enter: The
pollinating creatures that go from plant-to-plant, bringing with them the plant
baby-making material.</P>
<P>But, you probably already knew that, so how about some other vital facts
about pollinators:</P>
<P>- 75% of all flowering plants need the help of pollinators to fertilize.<BR>-
An estimated 1/3rd of all of the food and beverages that we consume is, in some
way, affected by pollinators. <BR>- If you're a monetarily-focused individual,
maybe you'd be interested in learning that pollinators contribute $20 billion
annually in products to our nation's GDP. </P>
<P>And the worst fact of all: </P>
<P sizset="35" sizcache="10">- Over the past year, nearly half of all honey bee
hives in the U.S. have been destroyed to the continuing mysterious disaster that
is <A href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder"><FONT color=#e93848>"Colony Collapse Disorder."</FONT></A> This is the highest
percentage in recent memory.</P>
<P sizset="36" sizcache="10">Meaning, if there's one thing to take away from
National Pollinator Week, it's that bees might not be as active as usual. One
way to help, then, is by taking a <A href="http://www.kcet.org/living/homegarden/container-gardens/manual-pollination-bees.html"><FONT color=#e93848>walk to your local garden and checking</FONT></A>:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><ie7:! style="OVERFLOW: hidden" id=ie7_pseudo0 class="ie7_anon ie7_class0"></ie7:!>Check to see if bees are pollinating your
plants by looking for them in the morning hours. If you see bees, there you
go. If you don't, Agrella has a helpful tip to pollinate them yourself: "Take
a Q-Tip and swirl it into the opening of the male flower, and then swirl the
same Q-Tip in the female flower. You should see fruit. The same can be done
with a soft paintbrush, or even by just picking off one of the male flowers
and sticking it in the female flower manually.<ie7:! style="OVERFLOW: hidden" id=ie7_pseudo1 class="ie7_anon ie7_class1"></ie7:!></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P sizset="37" sizcache="10">But National Pollinator Week doesn't simply begin
and end with bees. Other pollinators that need to get some recognition include
birds, bats, beetles, and the lovely butterflies. As far as that last one goes,
in honor of National Pollinator Week, tickets to the <A href="http://www.rsabg.org/garden-events/581-butterfly-pavilion"><FONT color=#e93848>Butterfly Pavilion at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden</FONT></A>
are only two bucks a pop. There, folks of all ages can walk through the
butterfly habitat to learn all about their pollinating ways. </P>
<P sizset="38" sizcache="10">If you can't make it, or if live in a
non-garden-adjacent part of the asphalt jungle, you can still help. Shoot out a
link to this post. Tweet out a few pollinator facts to your friends. Spread the
<A href="http://www.kcet.org/living/food/food-rant/the-epa-is-killing-bees.html"><FONT color=#e93848>word about CCD and what's triggering it</FONT></A>. Maybe even
hold a themed potluck dinner where all of food comes from pollinators. </P>
<P sizset="39" sizcache="10">If none of these are striking your fancy, head on
over to <A href="http://www.pollinator.org/"><FONT color=#e93848>Pollinator.org</FONT></A> for some more ideas. The point is, this
week is National Pollinator Week. So, let's get on out there and spread the word
about pollinating!</P>
<P sizset="40" sizcache="10"><STRONG sizset="40" sizcache="10">Eat better by
following KCET Food on <A href="http://www.facebook.com/KCETFood"><FONT color=#e93848>Facebook</FONT></A>, <A href="http://twitter.com/#!/KCETFood"><FONT color=#e93848>Twitter</FONT></A>,
and <A href="http://socalfood.tumblr.com/"><FONT color=#e93848>Tumblr</FONT></A>.</STRONG></P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Laurie Davies
Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Pollinator Partnership<BR>4</FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">23 Washington St.
5th Fl.<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>T: 415.362.1137<BR>F: 415.362.0176<BR><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1371862636@aol.com" border=0 width=319 height=173 DATASIZE="27063" ID="MA1.1371862636" ></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR>Follow up on <A href="http://twitter.com/#!/Pollinators">Twitter</A> and <A href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pollinator-Partnership/48680445464">Facebook</A>!</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>