Unity Art for Pollinators

Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are in dramatic decline. I want to support them, and find ways I can forge a stronger connection between us, so I've been applying my Unity Art practice to pollinators.

Unity Art is a process that opens the doors of creative healing to anyone, any age, any ability. My intention is to use my creative fire to forge a stronger connection between me and the pollinators.

Agenda:

1. Set pollinator intentions
2. Collect photos of pollinators

3. Mindful bee watching

4. Wild garden practices

1. Set pollinator intentions:

The first step-in my Unity Art process is to define the project. That requires some research, meditation, and thought. I started by naming the subjects (pollinators), then dove into the science and folklore to figure out their importance, and then meditated on my relationship with the subject. 

Pollinators is a pretty big subject, but I decided not to divide it into butterflies and bees and birds. I want to know more about the entire system of pollination, so I can support their work better. 

I was woefully ignorant of the pollinators in my garden when I started this project - I wanted to get to know them better, and find out how to support them best. My research says that pollinators need two basic kinds of support: Food and habitat.

My intention for how I want to heal our relationship:

I intend to get to know the pollinators in my garden so I can greet them by name, and offer them hospitality (food and water), and sanctuary (shelter and nesting spots). I also intend to share any information I gather with my human community, so as to build a better connection between people and the pollinators who support us. 

2. Collect photos of pollinators:

My first intention was to get to know the pollinators in my yard, and so I began by exploring: When I set an intention to "explore for pollinators," my time in the garden took on a new kind of focus: It became a meditation - I moved slower and looked with new eyes (like a little kid). I began to collect photos to ID. 

I found this guide from the Xerces society helpful.

This first small bee is probably a native striped sweat bee, probably Lasioglossum (I'm guessing, because it's the most common sweat bee in Oregon). Approximately 15 species live in the state. I found it at my kale plant.

And then I found this butterfly - I think it's an American Lady. The ID post says: 

• American Lady Butterflies have a wingspan of 1.75 to 2.5 inches.
• The coloring of this species is a brilliant orange with dark borders and markings and white and purple spots. The underwings have an ornate pattern similar to a cobweb.
• Additionally, American Lady butterflies are nervous and will often take flight at the slightest disturbance.
• Look for American Lady butterflies in western Oregon near open landscapes with leafy, flowering plants.

I also watched a great educational video at the OSU Extension site, that turned me into an official Bee Advocate!

 

3. Mindful bee watching:

According to the podcast Bee Watching Your Way to Higher Consciousness, "Watching bees is the perfect way humans can connect with a greater consciousness, practice mindfulness and add years to their life. ... As bees dance from flower to flower, absorbing the sun and distributing pollen along the way, they emit a healing frequency that reverses disease and promotes soul and emotional restoration.” 

How to bee watch: Choose a sunny spot in the mid-day (bees are more active mid-day), near a pollinator plant such as lavender, and get comfortable and still. Once you are still the bees will settle back to their world-saving business.

And then just watch them. Name the bees you see (if you know their names - honey bee, sweat bee, mason bee - good for you! If you don't know, name them anyway - "small blackish bee", medium stripy bee").  

 

Listen for a good while to the buzz. The buzzing of bees ranges from 10 - 1000 Hz, depending on whether the hive has a queen, whether the bees are calm or are feeling threatened, and even the species of bee will produce different sound frequencies. The frequencies that bees emit resonate with organic tissues that promote healing. In humans, the brain also can entrain to these sounds for an overall calming effect.

 

Thank them for pollinating your plants.

4. Wild garden practices:

“What if each American landowner made it a goal to convert half of his or her lawn to productive native plant communities? Even moderate success could collectively restore some semblance of ecosystem function to more than twenty million acres of what is now ecological wasteland. ... we can create this country’s largest park system. It gives me the shivers just to write about it. Because so much of this park will be created at our homes, I suggest we call it Homegrown National Park.” ― Douglas Tallamy, Nature's Best Hope

The easiest thing we can do to help butterflies, bees, and other pollinators is to create habitat for them. Native pollinators are more likely to be attracted to a garden filled with the native plants they are familiar with. If you have no garden space, you can grow a wildlife garden in pots! 

Start with a few basic Wild Garden practices: 

1. Allow weedy non-natives to flower (dandelions, lawn clover, etc.); these are food sources for pollinators in the absence of native alternatives. 
2. Remove invasive plants from your garden, like English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, shiny geranium (Geranium lucidum), or purple loosestrife- these will spread and choke out anything native that you plant.
3. Avoid chemical use in your yard; allow some insect pests to live as food for beneficial predatory insects, birds and mammals. Consider tolerating moderate levels of plant damage to sustain a healthy balance.
4. Reduce nighttime light pollution; our porch and security lights are major causes of insect decline. Consider turning off your lights at night, or use motion sensor security lights.
5. Provide a water source for wildlife, as small as a tiny puddling station for bees or butterflies.
6. Provide nest sites and furniture: Leave some dry, undisturbed, and un-mulched patches of soil- 70% of native bee species nest in this kind of ground area. Another 30% nest in cavities in dead wood, dead plant stalks, and rock piles, so leave plant stalks standing through late spring. Leave a log or two to slowly decay into the soil and a few flat rocks for sunning.

More Reading:

Home Grown National Park - Getting Started

Solve Oregon - Invasive Plants