 Welcome to Alabama Smart Yards. We're creating beautiful landscapes that protect natural environments. Today, Danny Carroll will talk about our native pollinators and share some ways that our yards and gardens can create habitat for them. Pollinators are a very important part of our lives from pollinating the food we eat, food for wildlife, as well as pollinating plants that produce textiles and building supplies. Bees are the most common and abundant pollinators. We have over 3,500 native species of bees in North America, as well as the European honeybee. Numerous other insects are common pollinators that visit flowers, mainly for nectar. Each one serves a specific purpose. Moths are night active and pollinate flowers that are open at that time. Butterflies are not as efficient as bees as moving pollen, but they can visit long, deep flowers. Flies find their specialty in stinky flowers. When it comes to pollinators, it takes all kinds. Providing food, water and shelter is an important part to maintaining our populations of bees. Plan your garden to provide flowers all year long. Many of our native bees are active at different times of the year. Provide various shapes and colors of blooms. Limit pesticide use in the landscape. Identify the pest first and always follow label directions to minimize pollinator impact. And many of our so-called weeds also provide forage for bees. Therefore, minimizing mode areas is a great way to enhance pollinator activity. Don't forget about habitat. Most of our native bees nest to solitary bees in the ground or cavities, like small holes in trees or wooden fences. There are many practices we can implement in our own yards and gardens to help our pollinating insects flourish.