Here in Costa Rica, pollinators are busy year-round no slack time and no winter hibernations, just flower to flower. Exhausting. To keep them all in pollen, we have to have things in flower every day all year long. Keeping them all well-fed and healthy requires a lot of work.

Succession planting is one way to keep the pollinators happy. Succession planting means staggering your plantings or putting in plants with different maturation dates. For pollinators, it means having something flowering in the garden at all times. This should not be a problem in Costa Rica.

What is a problem here and worldwide is finding a pesticide that will not harm honeybees. While concentrating on them, we do tend to forget other pollinators because the honeybee does so much more than pollinate. Honey, wax, royal jelly- they are all products from this humble insect.

So, how do we rid ourselves of plant pests while preserving the honeybee?

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that natural sprays, like neem oil and castile soap, and even other pesticides should only be sprayed in the very early morning and the late evening when the honeybee is not yet active.

Some pests, like aphids, can be attacked by an army of ladybugs, if you can find ladybugs in quantity. Also helpful are the various types of praying mantis found in Costa Rica. Some other insects you may not have thought of before are the following:

• Damsel bugs: aphids are a favorite food.

• Ground beetles: many types; some eat caterpillars and slugs.

• Aphid midges: attract them by planting dill.

• Mealybug destroyer: fennel and dill will attract them.

The internet has lists of other beneficial insects. Check them out and try to promote them in your garden.