The topic of pollinators in lawn care is one of the most fascinating I have encountered in my career. Each time I think I have my arms around the subject, another unexpected twist or turn will come my way and smash all of my preconceived notions of how we care for lawns, interact with our customers, and act as good stewards of the environment.
Pollinators like the honeybee and bumblebee have been having a tough time of it in the past few years. If it’s not colony collapse disorder causing entire hives of honeybees to disappear suddenly, it’s the varroa mite, poor nutrition or pesticide exposure that ails them. The challenges to commercial beekeeping, those hives that travel across the nation pollinating everything from almonds in California to blueberries in Maine, have seeped into the native bee populations, affecting them as well.
The bulk of the problem lies outside of professional lawn care, as we are only responsible for a tiny fraction of the pesticides used in agriculture and we have no need to employ commercial pollinators in our industry.
That said, we come under intense scrutiny for our use of all pesticides, not just insecticides, because we tend to be the ‘low-hanging fruit’ for those environmental activists who feel the need to do something when confronted with a crisis. New laws and regulations are passed, usually targeting the very people who use pesticides responsibly and ignoring completely those who have no training at all.
As we start the new lawn care season, it’s a good idea to pause for a moment to consider the products we use and how we use them. By reviewing some simple principles, we can provide our customers with the results they expect and enhance pollinator safety, too.
Read the full story from our August issue here.
