Over a third of the food we eat comes from plants that rely on pollination, as do medicines like morphine and aspirin and materials like cotton,. Pollination is a process that plants use to transfer male cells from one plant to the female cells of another plant so that fertilisation can take place. Fertilization is what happens when the DNA of two parent organisms (like a plant or animal) is combined together to create a new offspring.
Pollination starts with pollen, a fine powdery substance made up of pollen grains that contain male gametes (sex cells). This pollen is then transferred by wind, water, plant or animal to the stigma of another plant. Once the pollen reaches the stigma it then germinates, producing a pollen tube to the ovule which contains the plants female gametes. Fertilisation then takes place with the now fertilised ovule developing and growing into a fruiting body that contains the seed of a new plant.
Some plants like grasses and certain species of trees are wind pollinated, relying on the wind to blow the pollen from plant to plant. When a grass flowers it produces florets of both male and female flowers which are often arranged in spikelets. The flowers release pollen directly into the air so the wind can carry it from plant to plant. Wind pollinated trees either produce clusters of pollen rich flowers called catkins, or if they are coniferous produce special cones instead that release pollen into the wind.
Some plants like sea grass rely on water to transfer pollen using the natural currents in the ocean to move pollen from plant to plant. Other species of plant have actually evolved to self pollinate themselves by releasing pollen inside a closed plant structure.
The vast majority of flowering plants however rely on animals to carry the pollen from plant to plant for them. Animals that help pollinate plants are called pollinators and it is estimated that over 80% of flowering plants rely on animals for pollination. Flowering plants have evolved several different strategies and mechanisms to help them attract pollinators, from using brightly coloured petals, ultraviolet light reflecting surfaces, appealing scents or even mimicking the appearance of an animal itself in the case of Bee orchids. However their biggest appeal to pollinators is the sweet, rich nectar and pollen they produce which serves as an important source of food for thousands of species worldwide.
Insects like butterflies, bees, moths, wasps, hoverflies, beetles ants and flies are some of the primary and most vital pollinators on earth! Birds and bats also play an important role in pollinating a wide variety of species of flowering plants. Worryingly pollinator species across the world are in drastic decline with many species endangered or facing extinction due to widespread pesticide use, pollution, climate changes and the devastating and ever ongoing loss of natural habitats worldwide. This is why its so important to help pollinators by protecting their habitats and providing food and egg laying spaces, as well as banning the industrial use of pesticides, harmful chemicals, toxic heavy metals and other environmental pollutants like plastic.
You can find lots of fun, easy, educational activity ideas below to explore and learn more about pollination and pollinators.
1. Use a Pollination garden shop calculator
The Buzz Club have created a wonderful and simple to use calculator that shows you how much the food we grow relies on pollinating insects like bees. To use the Garden shop calculator you just need to download a simple spreadsheet here and fill in the amount of each type of food you have grown . The spreadsheet will then calculates what % of the harvest bees and other pollinating insects have contributed to it. Alternatively you can also use it to calculate what percentage pollinating insects like bees have contributed to growing any food you have picked from a farm or bought in a shop. If you live in the UK you can also feedback your results to help with a citizen science project. To feedback your results simply fill in and submit the results.
2. Learn about the anatomy of a flower
Dissecting flowers* is a great way to learn about the reproductive anatomy of a flower. You could either draw or print out a simple image of a flower onto cardboard or paper and then label all the different parts of anatomy. There is a great free download printable sheet you can use here. Or you could cut a flower in half and see if you can find and label all of the parts in the flower using a photo guide. This is a great opportunity to stimulate conversation about pollination and how flowers attract insects using bright colours and sweet smelling nectar. Talk about how the insects brush against the pollinating parts of the flower picking up pollen that then gets distributed to all the other flowers and plants the insects visit afterwards.
*Pretty please don’t use wild flowers, only use flowers you have bought or grown yourself.
3. Shake pollen from flower heads
You can more easily see and explore the pollen that plants create by shaking and tapping pollen rich flowers or tree catkins onto a dark surface. If you have a microscope you could also use it to magnify the pollen to see each microscopic pollen grain in fine detail.
4. Play a pollination game
You can demonstrate how insects help pollinate flowering plants by playing a simple pollination game. All you need for this is a large sheet of paper or cardboard, recycled milk bottle tops, a stick, string, glue and paint. First you need to flowers across the surface of your picture. A few of them need to be big enough to place the milk bottle tops in the centre.
Paint the smaller flowers with yellow centres and then glue a few milk bottle tops onto the larger flowers. Next paint or draw a pollinating animal like a bee or butterfly onto a piece of card and cut it out. Then glue a small scrunched up piece of tissue onto the bottom of your flying animal so it can pick up the ‘pollen’ and transfer to the other flowers. Once the paint and glue has dried on the picture and animal you can then fill the milk bottles tops with yellow or orange paint to make your pollen.
Now you can have fun dipping the bottom of your insect into the ‘pollen’ paint and landing it on the other flowers to pollinate them. This is a great opportunity to talk about the important role pollinating animals play in the life cycle of flowering plants.
5. Spot pollinators amongst the wildflowers
You will often find pollinating insects like bees, beetles, butterflies and moths in sunny spots in or around flowers. It is fascinating to watch them flit from flower to flower feeding on the nectar. You could take a notepad or camera with you to record your finds or even print out some nature bingo or scavenger hunt sheets. Can you see which types of flowers certain insects prefer? Are some more popular than others? You can find several handy guides to identifying pollinating insects below:
- Bumble Bee Conservation Trust guide to identifying bees.
- The Butterfly Conservation guide to identifying butterflies and moths here
- RSPB guide to beetles here.
- Countryfile guide to beetles here.
6. Learn about bees
There are over 20,000 species of bee in the world, 90% of which are solitary bees! You may be surprised to find that there are only 9 species of honey bee and 250 species of bumble bee in comparison to the thousands of species of solitary bee. If you look carefully you can often easily spot the differences between the main species and the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust have a brilliant visual guide to identifying bees here.
All bees feed on pollen and nectar which they gather from flowers. In doing so they play a vital role in pollination by carrying particles of pollen from plant to plant. Female honey bees, bumble bees, orchard bees and stingless bees all have pollen baskets on their back legs in which they collect and transport pollen. Solitary bees also collect pollen however instead of a basket most solitary bees have special hairs (on the backs of their legs or abdomens) called scopa which they press the pollen firmly onto. You can often spot the tell, tell yellow and orange baskets or pockets of pollen on the legs of busy bees during flowering seasons.
You can find out more about bees here with 25 bee activity ideas and more fun facts.
7. Grow wildflowers and pollinator friendly plants
As we are losing more of our wild spaces and natural habits pollinators like bees and butterflies are also losing egg laying plants and sources of food. By simply growing pollinator friendly plants and flowers in your garden or in pots on balconies you can provide a vital lifeline for these beautiful insects. You can find handy lists of pollinator friendly plants via the links below.
- Click here for a list of nectar rich plants and flowers for butterflies.
- Click here for a list of plants that provide food for butterfly caterpillars.
- Click here for a list of nectar rich and night scented plants and flowers for Moths.
- Click here for a list of nectar rich plants and flowers for bees.
8. Learn about butterflies
There are over 20,000 species of Butterfly in the world, 59 of which can be found in the UK? Butterflies and moths belong to the same family called Lepidoptera and both species are important pollinators as well as a vital source of food for other wildlife. Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet that help them identify plants they are landing on, They can drum their feet to release chemicals from a plant and then use the spines the back of their legs to detect the right chemicals using chemo-receptors. This helps them find right plant to lay their eggs on or feed from.
You can find out more about butterflies here with 26 activity ideas and more fun facts.
9. Learn about moths
Moths are vital nocturnal pollinators that also provide an important source of food for an extraordinary array of wildlife. Butterflies and moths belong to the same family called Lepidoptera. But you might be surprised to know that Moth species actually outnumber butterflies 9-11! Over 90% of the Lepidoptera family are moths. In total there are over 135,000 known species of Moth in the world and 2500 of them can be found here in the UK.
You can find out more about moths here with 25 activity ideas and more fun facts.
10. Learn how moths and butterflies feed
Butterflies and moths feed on the nectar from flowers using a mouth part called a proboscis which they can use to suck up nectar and also drink from muddy puddles to absorb the minerals they need. The proboscis is curled up when not in use but unfurls quickly when needed. It has tiny groves on its surface which help carry the liquid up towards the butterfly. The special length of the proboscis allows the butterflies to reach down and into flowers to gather nectar from a distance as if they are using a very long and flexible straw.
You can demonstrate this using some cardboard tube flowers, clean bottle caps (milk bottle caps work really well) and a straw. Place the clean bottle caps into the bottom of the cardboard tube flowers and fill them with water or a sweet drink. Then try to drink the liquid without moving or touching the flowers with your hands or mouths. If should be impossible as your mouth can’t fit into the flowers to reach the liquid in the bottle caps. Now try drinking the liquid using a straw, the straw makes it easy and simple to reach into the flower to drink the liquid.
11. Learn about hoverflies
Hoverflies (also known as flower flies) are just as important as butterflies, bees and moths when it comes to pollinating plants. Yet not that many people seem to be aware of the important environmental role that these beautiful creatures play, helping with the pollination of flowering plants as well as protecting crops from aphid infestations. Hoverflies are cross pollinators (or generalists) which means they visit a wide variety of flowering plants rather than specialising on a few plants. It’s estimated that hoverflies contribute to the pollination of over 500 species of crops where as honey bees only contribute to 90.
You can find out more about hoverflies here with 14 activity ideas and more fun facts.
12. Make a hoverfly lagoon
Hoverfly lagoons recreate the perfect nursery site for hoverflies that like to lay eggs and larvae in pools of water like ‘rot holes’ in trees. All you need to create a hoverfly lagoon is:
- Plastic milk bottle (2 or 4 pint sized)
- Pen and scissors
- Tray or a dish
- Sticks, leaf litter (dried leaves), grass and or plant cuttings.
- Water
First carefully cut the top half of the milk bottle off (you can pop it in the recycling as you won’t need it). Then using a pen carefully poke holes around the top edge of the milk bottle to allow water to escape and prevent your lagoon for overflowing. If you like you can also decorate or camouflage your lagoon using permanent markers.
Next fill the milk bottle with leaf litter, grass or plant cuttings, be generous with the amount of material you put in, the more the better. Hopefully this material will rot down and create the perfect environment, rich in microbes for the larvae to feed on. Then place some sticks into the bottle. These should deter some predators and also give the larvae something to move about on. Now you can fill your lagoon with water. Fill it all the way up to the holes along the edge.
To give the hoverfly somewhere to land on and to deter mosquitoes you can sprinkle a layer of leaf litter (dried leaves) across the top of the lagoon. Place the finished lagoon on a tray or dish and sprinkle another layer of leaf litter in the base of the tray or dish, this will give the pupa somewhere safe to hide in. All you need to do now is top up the water in the lagoon when it gets too low and wait. You can search the leaf litter every month or so to see if there are any pupa. Be very careful and gentle when you search through the leaf litter as Hoverfly pupae are very fragile.
13. Learn about beetles
There are an amazing 300,000 species of Beetle in the world? 4,000 of which can be found in the UK. Beetles are one of the largest groups of insects in the world and make up almost a quarter of all known living species (including plants) on the planet! Because of this they play a vital role in the pollination as well as providing a important source of food for other wildlife.
You can find out more about beetles here with 16 activity ideas and more fun facts.
14. Make a water station for pollinators
On hot days bees and other pollinating insects can become overheated and dehydrated. You can give them a helping hand by providing a water station. All you need for this is a shallow dish or tub lined with pebbles to give the bees something to stand on (so they don’t drown) and enough water to fill the base of the dish/tub without covering the pebbles. It’s important not to put sugar solution in the water station as this can spread disease and also prevent butterflies and bees from properly gathering nectar. Please also make sure the pot and water cleaned out every few days to prevent it becoming contaminated.
15. Learn about bats
There are over 1100 species of bat in the world and 18 species in the UK. They actually make up almost a third of all mammal species in the UK. Bats play a vital role in the environment pollinating plants, dispersing seeds and controlling pest populations of insects like mosquitos. A bats diet varies depending on its species, although many species feed on insects some species feed on bigger prey like frogs, fish and lizards. And some species feed entirely on seeds, berries, fruit or pollen. An amazing 500 species of plant rely on bats to pollinate them including foods like banana, mango, durian and agave.
You can find out more about bats here with 20 activity ideas and more fun facts.
16. Grow a bat bog garden
Creating a bat bog garden will provide the perfect habitat for the types insects bats like to eat. You either create a bat bog garden using planters or by creating a boggy area directly in the garden. To make a boggy garden or planter you will need to line the base of the planter or a dig a wide large hole in the garden and then line it with an old paddling pool or a plastic liner for a pond. Make sure the lining has a few tiny holes for drainage. The idea is to retain moisture and create damp boggy ground but not let it become over flooded. Next cover the liner with soil and water it with rainwater to make it nice and damp. Finally plant some marshy plants like Marsh-marigold, Yellow Iris, Creeping Jenny, Meadowsweet, Snake’s-head-fritillary, Plaintain Lily, Water Avons or Hemp-agrimony.
17. learn about birds
There are over 10,000 species of bird in the world? Birds play a vital and varied role in eco-systems and the environment by spreading seeds, pollinating plants, recycling nutrients, fertilising marine environments, controlling pest populations, clearing up carrion and preventing the spread of disease. A birds diet varies depending on its species, some species feed on things like nuts, seeds, berries and fruit, others feed on insects, eggs, small mammals, carrion and fish. Birds like hummingbirds and honey eaters also feed on pollen and nectar laying an important role in pollinating the plants of the flowers they feed off. Nearly a quarter of Salvia plant species are bird pollinated especially in hot or high altitude climates and a surprising 5% of the plants we use for food and medicine are pollinated by birds.
You can find out more about birds here with 36 activity ideas and more fun facts.
18. Provide food for birds
During the cold winter months food can be much harder to find for birds and wildlife. You can help get them through the winter by providing food, water and shelter in your garden. One of the easiest way to help is by putting out bird feeders. You can easily buy store bought one, make your own or buy craft kit bird feeders that you can decorate before putting out. Don’t forget to regularly clean out and top up your bird feeders.
For day 11 of 30 days wild 2024, For day 10 of 30 days wild, I went meadow sweeping and minibeast hunting with Wildlife Tots as well as enjoying some butterfly activities and crafts with them. We then had fun painting our own mirror print butterflies at home.
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