Celebrate And Help Pollinators
A rusty patched bumble bee on bee balm. The state is a stronghold for this federally listed pollinator species. Click on the image to learn more about its amazing life cycle and an exciting discovery in Wisconsin in 2020 in "A Small Nest Creates Big Buzz" in the Summer Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine. / Photo Credit: Jay Watson
June 21-27 is celebrated nationally as Pollinator Week, and it's a good time to learn more about and help these wondrous workers. Pollinators visit flowering plants and transfer pollen from flower to flower, allowing the plants to reproduce. Wisconsin’s native pollinators include bees, butterflies, moths, flower flies, beetles, wasps and ruby-throated hummingbirds.
Pollinators are critical to Wisconsin ecosystems and crops including cranberries, cherries and peppers, yet many pollinator populations are in decline in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the U.S. and globally.
Read the news release.
Pollinators are critical to Wisconsin ecosystems and crops including cranberries, cherries and peppers, yet many pollinator populations are in decline in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the U.S. and globally.
Read the news release.
Plant Native Species
To Attract & Aid Pollinators
A green comma butterfly on joe pye weed, a good native plant choice to aid pollinators. / Photo Credit: Ryan Brady
Planting native species will attract and aid pollinators such as bumble bees, monarchs and other rare and common pollinators. There are many great resources to help you plant native plants specific to Wisconsin.
- Visit the DNR's Saving Wisconsin's Native Pollinators webpages for tips on how to create homes and habitats for pollinators, plus much more.
- Plant list, bee life cycle and other tips from Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine.
Make Your Habitat Count: Add To Wisconsin's Tally
Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed. Swamp milkweed, butterfly milkweed and common milkweed are Wisconsin milkweed species known to be used by monarchs and easy to establish. / Photo Credit: Becky Roth
Once you've planted milkweed and other native plants benefitting pollinators, help make that habitat count.
Enter it into the HabiTally application, now available for smart phones using Android and iOS operating systems. Download it from Google Play or the Apple App store.
The Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative, of which DNR is a partner, encourages people to add their habitat to HabiTally, so it counts towards the 20-year goal of 120 million new stems of milkweed in a mix of wildflowers.
That goal is Wisconsin's contribution to restoring Midwestern breeding habitat for the eastern population of monarch butterflies that overwinters in Mexico.
Enter it into the HabiTally application, now available for smart phones using Android and iOS operating systems. Download it from Google Play or the Apple App store.
The Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative, of which DNR is a partner, encourages people to add their habitat to HabiTally, so it counts towards the 20-year goal of 120 million new stems of milkweed in a mix of wildflowers.
That goal is Wisconsin's contribution to restoring Midwestern breeding habitat for the eastern population of monarch butterflies that overwinters in Mexico.
Solar Panels Go Well With
Tomatoes, Peppers and Pollinators
Agrivoltaics, or the pairing of photovoltaic solar panels with agriculture, can help some crops thrive in hot, arid climates. (Photo: U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]/Flickr)
Monarchs in the Rough
The monarch butterfly is a North American icon, but the butterfly’s population has declined by more than 90 percent over the last two decades. To combat this decline and the decline of other key pollinators, Audubon International and Environmental Defense Fund have teamed up to create Monarchs in the Rough, a program that partners with golf courses to restore pollinator habitat in out-of-play areas.
WELCOME THE FIRST COURTHOUSE GARDEN CATERPILLAR
Say Hello to the FIRST Courthouse Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar discovered on June 28, 2019.
photo by Stephanie Boismenue
Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs.
photo by Stephanie Boismenue
Visit us at the Courthouse Garden and say hello to our newest resident!
photo by Stephanie Boismenue
------ ALL ABOUT BIRDS ------
Why Insect Populations are Plummeting...and Why it Matters
Where are they? How do they show up in spring or summer? Many butterflies pass through a few generations during the warm months, but the “fall brood” doesn’t simply die off. Migration is rare in butterflies. Here are other ways butterflies overwinter, with examples of species commonly seen in the eastern U.S.
Whether they overwinter as a chrysalis, larvae, egg or adult, physiological changes occur that enable butterflies to survive the cold. The blood becomes enriched/thickened with sugars or alcohols, which lowers the freezing point; water content in the body decreases; and cellular water is bound to proteins to minimize crystallization.
Here are strategies uses by over-wintering butterflies:
Make a chrysalis: The last generation of the year remains in the chrysalis in a dormant state for the winter. You can help ensure these beauties survive by leaving your perennials standing through the winter and by raking some leaves into your flower beds. This also creates good insulation and mulch! Crawl into a seed pod. Larvae that mature in fall crawl into seedpods to hibernate for the winter. In spring, they pupate and transform into butterflies. Curl up in a leaf. Groups of butterfly larvae crawl under a leaf and curl it around themselves to make a shelter. To get the leaf to curl, they wrap a silk thread around it, and the thread shrinks as it dries, pulling the leaf over. Chill out as an egg. Females lay their eggs the eggs remain dormant through the winter and hatch in spring.
Now that you know that butterflies and other pollinators need plants and brush cover to complete their life cycles think about how your garden can help them overwinter. When you are cleaning up your garden in late fall, preparing for the winter, use caution! When you trim branches and tidy up, set the branches and leaves aside in case there are caterpillars or chrysalides hiding on them. Rake leaves into garden beds to provide cover for overwintering butterflies. Leave faded plants until the weather warms in spring.
In the spring, after they have had time to emerge, you can compost or otherwise dispose of the material without harming butterflies.
Whether they overwinter as a chrysalis, larvae, egg or adult, physiological changes occur that enable butterflies to survive the cold. The blood becomes enriched/thickened with sugars or alcohols, which lowers the freezing point; water content in the body decreases; and cellular water is bound to proteins to minimize crystallization.
Here are strategies uses by over-wintering butterflies:
Make a chrysalis: The last generation of the year remains in the chrysalis in a dormant state for the winter. You can help ensure these beauties survive by leaving your perennials standing through the winter and by raking some leaves into your flower beds. This also creates good insulation and mulch! Crawl into a seed pod. Larvae that mature in fall crawl into seedpods to hibernate for the winter. In spring, they pupate and transform into butterflies. Curl up in a leaf. Groups of butterfly larvae crawl under a leaf and curl it around themselves to make a shelter. To get the leaf to curl, they wrap a silk thread around it, and the thread shrinks as it dries, pulling the leaf over. Chill out as an egg. Females lay their eggs the eggs remain dormant through the winter and hatch in spring.
Now that you know that butterflies and other pollinators need plants and brush cover to complete their life cycles think about how your garden can help them overwinter. When you are cleaning up your garden in late fall, preparing for the winter, use caution! When you trim branches and tidy up, set the branches and leaves aside in case there are caterpillars or chrysalides hiding on them. Rake leaves into garden beds to provide cover for overwintering butterflies. Leave faded plants until the weather warms in spring.
In the spring, after they have had time to emerge, you can compost or otherwise dispose of the material without harming butterflies.
Common Milkweed Insects
Adult Red Milkweed Bug
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Adult Small Milkweed Bug
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Click on the button above for the story.
Where do Butterflies
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Autumn Leaves:
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Creating An Oasis for Pollinators
Click on the photo for story.
Valerie Burns' house in Minocqua.
Bring Back the Pollinators:
Five Ways to Increase Nesting Habitat for Native Bees
Photo: Rollin Coville
Recent research suggests that pollinators do better in urban environments, yet these mowed, mulched, and managed landscapes frequently lack a sufficient amount of nesting habitat needed to support large numbers of bees. As wild bees move off ag lands and head for the cities and suburbs, they may struggle to find their “dream home” amongst ours. Click on the photo for more. . .
New Discovery, More Bees Mark
Michigan's First, Full Bee Census
Pollinators Need Everyone!
Oneida County Hosted the
Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association
Summer Tour
The Oneida County Land and Water Consevation Department hosted this year's WLWCA Summer Tour. About 25 participants were treated to a tour of the Roadside Pollinator Habitat, the James Lake Farms Organic Cranberry Marsh, and the Three Lakes Winery, Garden and Orchard.
In addition, attendees gathered for lunch at the Black Forest Pub and Grille just before the WLWCA Summer Business Meeting. Highlights of the tour are in the slideshow below:
In addition, attendees gathered for lunch at the Black Forest Pub and Grille just before the WLWCA Summer Business Meeting. Highlights of the tour are in the slideshow below:
August Workshop - Pollinator Friendly Farming
Presentations that were part of the August 29th Pollinator Workshop can be viewed below.
The Bee Better Certified Program
Bee Better Certified(TM) works to give bees a healthy place to live. It also helps incentivize farm practices that benefit pollinator populations counteracting production trends that jeopardize the pollinators upom whom we depend.
An introduction to the
Bee Better Certified Program
Click on the photo!
Bee Better Certified Program
Click on the photo!
For additional information click on any of the "buzzers" below:
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