About 35 percent of the world’s food supply depends on insect pollination, notes a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist.

     “That’s one in every three bites of food,” said Marlin Bates.

     In the U.S., most insect-dependent crops are pollinated by managed and wild hives of non-native European honeybees, Bates said. However, wild and managed honeybee populations in the U.S. have sharply declined in recent years, due in large part to a mysterious condition called colony collapse disorder.

     As a result, interest has grown in the value of native bees as pollinators. “Because native pollinators are naturally part of our ecosystem, small steps to provide habitat for them can result in exponential population growth,” he said.

     “By planting native plant materials, homeowners and producers can increase the available habitat for these native insect populations. A robust population of native pollinators not only complements the capabilities of managed honeybees, it preserves the biodiversity of the natural ecosystem, helping to ensure seed and food production for generations to come.”

     For more information on growing native plants, contact your local MU Extension center or see www.grownative.org, a joint program of the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Missouri Department of Agriculture. To learn more about what you can do to preserve and foster the growth of native bee populations, see www.xerces.org, the website of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.