By Contributing Author: Christy Erickson

Bees are responsible for pollinating 15 to 30 percent of all the food in the U.S. Additionally, the annual economic benefit of their pollination services has been estimated to be up to $117 billion. Unfortunately, pollinators in the U.S. have been in crisis for more than a decade. If bees were to cease to exist, your stomach and wallet would suffer, as well as countless plants and other animals. So what can you do to help?

What is Pollination?
Pollen is produced by flowering plants and must be transferred from one plant to another in order for the flower to reproduce. Reproduction is valuable because the environment is constantly changing, and reproduction creates genetically varied offspring, which increases the chances of the flower’s offspring being suited to the changes in the environment. Most flowering plants require a pollinator to transfer the pollen from one plant to another.