Today is World Bee Day, a day set aside to acknowledge the importance of pollinators. In honor of these winged wonders, the TurfMutt Foundation offers these top three reasons to love bees:

• Bees keep our backyards and neighborhoods beautiful by helping our flowering plants bloom and providing pretty homes for other birds and insects.
• Bees are incredibly hard-working. In fact, they are responsible for pollinating about 400 different types of agricultural plants and about one-sixth of the flowering plants around the world. Those little creatures have a very big job!
• It’s estimated that honeybees and other pollinators help produce about one-third of everything we eat in the U.S. If bees were no longer doing their pollination job, we wouldn’t have many of the foods we love, including blueberries, cherries, apples and cucumbers.

As you’re mapping out your planting plans this spring, don’t forget the significant role pollinators play! Plan to add some plants and shrubs that will attract and feed these important insects.

For more information about the importance of our green space for pollinators, people and pets, go to TurfMutt.com.