Florrie’s Fantastic Bug Safari!

Photo: Florrie Funk

By Florrie Funk, Bee City USA-Asheville Leadership Committee Member

This story first appeared in the May 2026 issue of Stroll Grove Park Magazine. It is reposted here with permission.

Imagine that you could go on a safari where you could see dozens of different creatures. Some are black and furry with yellow noses. Some have intricate multi-colored patterns. Some have iridescent blue wings. Some are scarlet, metallic green or even gold. Now imagine that you can go on this safari right here in Asheville. This is a pollinator safari!

Check out this American bumble bee’s (Bombus pennsylvanicus) proboscis! Photo: Florrie Funk

What is a pollinator? Most people think of European honeybees, but more important are our native bees: bumble bees, leaf-cutter bees, mining bees, sweat bees…there are more than 500 different species of native bees in North Carolina! But pollinators also include butterflies (more than 175 species in NC), Beetles (many thousands of species in NC), flies (probably hundreds of pollinating species), and even wasps (probably thousands of species!).

Why are pollinators important? Without pollinators, almost all of the land ecosystems on the planet would collapse. More than one third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination and up to 90% of flowering plants depend on pollinators to reproduce. Insect diversity and numbers are in sharp decline worldwide, primarily because of habitat loss and overuse of agricultural and horticultural chemicals.

Insects are not only essential for pollination, but they are also the foundation of the food web that all other animals depend on. Did you know that a pair of songbirds can require up to 9,000 caterpillars to raise one clutch of eggs to fledge? And many animals, including our local bears, coyotes and foxes consume insects as an important part of their diets.

Catching insects. Photo: Nancy Lee Adamson

The third week of June is National Pollinator Week. Bee City USA is a national organization that was founded to sustain pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nesting habitat and reducing the use of pesticides. Bee City was founded right here in Asheville by Phyllis Stiles in 2012 and now has 473 city and campus affiliates across the country! This June, Bee City Asheville, in collaboration with The Asheville Botanical Garden will offer Pollinator Safari classes on June 14 and 15. This is one of the classes in the ongoing Certified Pollinator Advocate series. The class includes a short slide presentation and an outdoor exploration of the garden in search of pollinators. Many of you might think you dislike or even fear insects but join us for a pollinator safari and you might change your mind!

To learn more about pollinators, how to protect them and provide habitat for them in your own yard, explore these amazing websites: beecityasheville.org, beecityusa.org, xerces.org/pollinator-conservation, and homegrownnationalpark.org.

Florrie Funk has served on the Leadership Committee of Bee City USA-Asheville for six years. She has had a lifelong love of wildflowers and wild places. She has spent the last thirty years learning about native ecosystems and working as a volunteer in nature education and much more. Florrie Funk is a North Carolina based collage artist. Through layers of reclaimed paper, hidden symbols, and poetry written in found words. www.florriefunk.com