On a quiet morning in the forest, the air is filled with a high-pitched, rhythmic hum. It isn’t the wind or the sound of a distant lawnmower; it’s the sound of one of nature’s most important workers. A chubby, stocky bumblebee has latched onto a wildflower, vibrating its flight muscles at a frequency to shake loose the golden dust.

This “buzz pollination” is just one of the many invisible tasks unfolding across prairies, and according to local experts, it’s the only reason our grocery stores aren’t empty.

“The vast majority of fruits and vegetables would be missing,” said Barb McKittrick, environmental education manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. “One out of every three bites of food that we eat depends on pollinators.”

While many may think exclusively of honeybees when they hear the word pollinator, McKittrick notes that honeybees are actually European imports brought to the U.S. in the 1600s. A lot of the heavy lifting in local ecosystems is also done by moths, beetles and a vast array of native bees that have evolved alongside Illinois prairies.

Among these is the endangered rusty patched bumble bee. Once common, its populations have dropped by nearly 90% in the last 50 years due to habitat loss and pesticide use.

“We still see it around here,” McKittrick said. “It has been cited by citizen science programs that a lot of our patrons participate in.”

These native bees aren’t just surviving; they possess adaptations that other insects don’t have. For example, tomatoes and blueberries require that specific vibration, the buzz pollination, to release their pollen.

“A bumblebee is really big, its whole body and wings vibrate,” McKittrick explained. “It vibrates its wings really quick when it’s in that flower, so that vibration causes the pollen to come free and stick to the legs.”

To protect these, the Forest Preserve manages their land to act as safe havens for natural plants. Unlike horticultural garden varieties, native plants provide the specific chemical signals and nutrition local insects need to thrive.

However, protecting these pollinators isn’t only up to the forest preserves. It can also be done in suburban backyards. McKittrick suggests that residents can help by planting native flowering species, and by embracing a bit of “messiness” in their landscaping.

“Delaying the spring cleanup in your lawn is really helpful,” she said. “Leaving that leaf litter in place until the pollinators emerge right at the beginning of spring is really helpful.”

As the weather warms, residents are encouraged to look closer at the blooms happening around them. From the bumblebees to the beetles and moths, these tiny workers are keeping the local food system running.

“We would not be able to live without pollinators,” McKittrick said. “Our food depends on them so much.”