Pollinator Week draws awareness to its namesake critters.
Photo Above: Insect pollinators include many beyond honeybees, and all are in need of habitat protection.
In 2024, when the organizers of Pollinator Week designated the flower fly — a wasp-like insect also referred to as a “hoverfly”— as its first Pollinator of the Year, some nature enthusiasts were surprised to learn that flies actually make up the second most important pollinating group after bees.
“Flower flies are a great learning opportunity for many reasons,” says Maddie Dong, program and communications coordinator at the San Francisco-based Pollinator Partnership, which oversees the annual event. “They implement a special mimicry called Batesian mimicry, where a harmless organism copies the bright colors or patterns of a harmful organism that warn would-be predators to stay away.”
In fact, she adds, just about any critter, from birds and bats to butterflies and beetles, even small mammals, can transport pollen grains as they move from spot to spot. This is just one of the facts shared during Pollinator Week, introduced in 2007 by the Pollinator Partnership and recognized by the U.S. Senate to celebrate pollinators and their critical role in ecosystems, economies and agriculture.
“We want to raise awareness and turn that into some tangible action,” says Dong. “That could be simply taking an extra step to learn about pollinators and how they might contribute to your daily life. But we also want to encourage folks to take some action in terms of planting and providing habitat. That takes the form of native plants and proper nesting habitat, and we even encourage folks to adopt those bee hotels.”
Although honeybees tend to take top billing when it comes to media coverage about pollinator challenges — habitat loss, invasive species and climate change, among others — all are important and need to be conserved by government entities, corporations, nonprofit agencies and the general public, Dong points out.
“They contribute one out of three bites of food that we eat, and billions and billions of dollars to the food industry in the U.S. They’re essential for producing fruits, spices, nuts, textiles and fabric dyes.”
During Pollinator Week, the organization provides resources and ideas for those who want to participate, including a shareable logo, t-shirts and a poster that showcases a particular theme. This year, the focus will be Cultural Connections, spotlighting the role pollinators play in food production. And thanks to the popular annual Bioblitz, participants can join a community science initiative to collect data on pollinators across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Anyone is welcome to add local activities to the online map. In 2024, for example, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville held an outreach event with an agricultural emphasis, a honey tasting and a primer on pollinator garden starter kits. Other Blue Ridge area locations hosted events at farmers’ markets and garden centers.
“My favorite thing about Pollinator Week is that it can really be whatever you want it to be,” says Dong. “We encourage everyone to just get involved with pollinator conservation in any capacity.”
This year’s Pollinator Week runs June 16-22. To find out more or access the Pollinator Week Toolkit, see pollinator.org/pollinator-week.
Get Involved in Pollinator Week
Maddie Dong, program and communications coordinator at the Pollinator Partnership, offers these ideas for community projects that can be adopted for Pollinator Week:
• Plant a pollinator garden using native plants.
• Reduce or eliminate unnecessary pesticide use.
• Support local bees and beekeepers.
• Upload pollinator and plant photos to iNaturalist.
• Share educational posts about pollinators on social media.
• Donate to conservation organizations.
• Visit a local farmer’s market.
The story above first appeared in our May / June 2025 issue.
