Rose Pest Solutions, a pest management company, supported enterprises in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio that preserve pollinators during National Pollinator Week, which was held June 17-23.

Throughout the year, Rose is proud to partner with local organizations and apiaries, like Gaiser Bee Co. of Cincinnati to help spread the word about the importance of preserving pollinators and the impact they have on the environment. Gaiser and Rose have teamed up to design native wildflower seed packets that customers of the apiary can pick up and plant to attract honeybees to their home gardens. The partnership also includes Rose’s support of Gaiser’s Host-a-Hive program and the urban bee farm’s early spring community party.

According to the Pollinator Partnership, 75 to 95 percent of all flowering plants need help with pollination. Pollinators are key to transferring pollen within healthy and productive agricultural ecosystems. Honeybees are among the beneficial insects that pollinate more than 180,000 different plant species. Studies show honeybees make about two million flower visits to produce a pound of honey. One colony can produce 100 pounds of honey, with total agricultural production reaching between $1.2 and $5.4 billion annually.

“Rose Pest Solutions appreciates the importance of beneficial insects in our ecosystem, and we’re especially dedicated to protecting pollinators,” said Dale Hodgson, certified entomologist and B.C.E. regional technical supervisor for Rose Pest Solutions. “We’re proud to partner with apiaries in the markets we serve — like Gaiser Bee Co. in Ohio. Honeybees are really cool insects; they help to raise people’s awareness of the importance of pollinator health, and they also help make connections between the field and the table.”

In serving commercial and residential customers, Rose Pest Solutions works to protect beneficial pollinators. If a honeybee hive or nest is discovered on a customer’s property, Rose prefers safe relocation of the colony whenever possible. This may involve reaching out to a local beekeeper or relying on Rose’s internal experts that have relocated live honeybee colonies in the past.

In addition to Gaiser, Rose enjoys successful partnerships with Detroit Hives in Detroit, as well as The Harpur Bee Hive at Purdue University in Indiana.

Following are simple tips for those interested in helping pollinators thrive:

• Plant flowers and flowering plants in gardens that will bloom at different times of the year — spring, summer and autumn.
• Place colorful flowers in clusters to make bee foraging more efficient.
• Create a pollinator-friendly habitat realizing that in addition to nectar and pollen, various species will need other things, such as bare soil or log piles to nest in, and (in the case of butterflies) other host plants for the caterpillars.
• Reduce pesticide use, increase green spaces (hint: a manicured lawn is not a green space that many species can utilize) and minimize urbanization.
• Educate neighbors, schools and community groups about the importance of pollinators.
• Do not establish a beehive in your yard without instruction and support of a trained beekeeper.