Insects are required for 75% of crop pollination and 80% of wild plant pollination. However, insect populations around the world have been experiencing drastic declines in recent years. This decline has been most apparent in our honeybee populations, which have declined 55% in the last 80 years. It can also easily be seen in wild bumblebee populations, as 28% of North American bumblebee species are considered threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

To combat these negative trends and improve our local populations of pollinating insects, a program called "Planting for Pollinators" was given to three audiences. Those audiences were the Northern Kentucky Beekeeper's Association (57 attendees), a conservation group at a heavy industry company (19 attendees), and the Spring Tea Fundraiser for the Boone County Arboretum (169 attendees). The program focused on the anatomy of a flower, what pollinators need from flowers, and different native flowers for different pollinators. A second and different program was geared towards youth. This program was a "Pollinator Walk" at the Boone County Arboretum (13 attendees). 

The participant response to these two programs was very strong and very positive. Numerous attendees from the Beekeeper's Association and Spring Tea events reached out after the talk to obtain lists of the native wildflowers we talked about and to see what additional flowers could easily be established on large tracts of land.