Announcing the Andover pollinator friendly garden/landscape contest (enter by July 10th). See if your Andover property is the garden/landscape that pollinators love most! Then, take a tour around the city and see the various types of landscapes that are “pollinator-friendly” and an example of ways to bee in harmony with nature.

Andover has established, by  proclamation, recognizing the need and benefits of pollinators with an overall goal of working to protect the natural processes that are carried out by pollinators. The recent decline in pollinators due to factors including habitat loss, disease, parasites and pesticides has spurred the creation of the Andover Pollinator Awareness Project (APAP).

But pollinators are in every community. And, proper use of insecticides and smart conservation of plants and landscapes will not only benefit pollinators but our water resources too. Check out Pollinating New Ideas (UofM website) and Raising Bees at Wargo Nature Center (NMTV; 2:54)

Remember: Hundreds of varieties of Minnesota-native bees, honey bees, butterflies, a large assortment of insects, birds and mammals all work in perfect harmony to pollinate plants that we rely on as our food source; and directly impact our environment.