Boosting the buzz – Native floral enhancement plantings provide native bees and other pollinators with a floral banquet year-round

It is widely known that pollination is a critical ecosystem service for many food crops and wild plants; however, around the world, many populations of wild bees and other insect pollinators are in decline. The main bee species deployed by growers to provide pollination services to crops is the European honeybee (Apis mellifera). In Australia, we are in the fortunate position that feral and managed honeybee populations have not yet been decimated by the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor). However, as Varroa mite establishment seems inevitable, other, wild insect pollinators, including native bees, will have an even more vital role to play in the future, from both an ecological and a food security perspective.