Story by Kyre Johnson / The Hubbard School

In late July and early August, blistering heat isn't the only thing descending on Minnesota. There are also 508 native species of bees and wasps making their final push toward a successful pollination season. 

The food chain starts off small in the Bee Lab Garden at the University of Minnesota’s Bee Research Facility. As an affiliate of Bee Campus USA, UMN Twin Cities has pledged to highlight and expand its actions to promote pollinator conservation.

Despite including some of the most feared insects, pollinators work tirelessly and to the benefit of those who fear them, in order to collect and transfer the pollen necessary for maintaining ecosystems.

Important pollinators, which include bees, wasps and butterflies, are critical to our ecosystems as a whole, not only to plants and other animals but also to us as humans. “One out of every three bites of food that we take, a pollinator was responsible for," says Elise Bernstein, an outreach specialist and researcher at the Bee Lab.

Bernstein also recognizes that stinging insects can be scary but says to remember that wasps, unlike other pollinators, are omnivores. This means as their food supply begins to run out in August, they become more agitated.

"So wasps get hangry, and that's why sometimes people are like I'm seeing so many wasps and they're all over the place."

Although pollinators often get a bad rap at this time of the year when worker bees are at their strongest, most of them are actually quite gentle insects and they do wonders for our environment.

"I think one thing that I wish people understood about bees and pollinators and stinging insects in general is that there is not a reason to be afraid of them,” said Bernstein.

While it may be an inconvenience to get stung, it would be even worse to live without all of the help the pollinators give us. If you want to help preserve the pollinator population, plant more flowers and use less pesticide.