Esin Üstün / CC
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) — An effort to help pollinators will be underway again next month in cities across Northeast Wisconsin.
No Mow May is just what it sounds like: an effort to allow those interested to not mow their lawns throughout the entire month of May. Israel Del Toro is a Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Biology and says it’s all about the bees.
“When we think about bees we typically think about honey bees and bumble bees,” Del Toro told WTAQ. “But there are over 500 species of bees in Wisconsin alone.”
Those bees emerge from their underground seasonal hibernation at the start of Spring. No Mow May aims to welcome those bees back.
“By asking people to not mow during the month of May, we’re increasing the floral resources available to those bees and giving them a great start for the year,” said Del Toro.
Del Toro adds that concerns about increased pests are unfounded.
“In general, we haven’t seen any increase in abundance of pests like ticks or rodents,” Del Toro said. “We’ve actually done surveys and those populations are no different in mowed lawns than in unmowed lawns.”
The event started in Appleton back in 2020.
“Over the course of a couple of years, cities have grabbed on to this program,” said Brandon Neilsen with the City of Oshkosh.
This year Green Bay, De Pere, Oshkosh, and Kaukauna are joining in on the effort with Appleton. Appleton is the only city of the five that doesn’t require registration to take part.
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