April offers many opportunities to do little things that make a big difference for the creatures of the other orders which share the shoreline with us.

Don’t mistake their small size for lack of importance in our quality of life. Some pollinate plants, others control tick-carrying rodents, and yet others manage mosquito populations, and more.

This week, let’s consider the roles of bumblebees. In the next installment, we’ll look at frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles and snakes in the local landscape. Finally, in a third installment, we’ll take a look at owls and other birds.

Flowers for the queen

Queen bumblebees are among the earliest insects to emerge in our area. If you imagine that gives them a leg up on the rest of the bees, think again. It actually poses a problem.

The queens are their species’ sole support in April, but very few plants blossom at the same time they emerge.

“The queen needs her own weight in nectar each day. She needs native plants that provide April and May blossoms,” according to Dr. Kimberly Stoner, an entomologist and bee specialist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.

Stoner chairs a Pollinator Habitat Conference each year. At this year’s event, she emphasized the need to plant foraging habitat that supports all native bees, of which Connecticut has more than 300 species.

Stoner also reported, once again, that research shows a clear link between bee populations and the use of pesticides.

“We need to reduce the use of all pesticides as much as possible, and especially avoid insecticides highly toxic to bees,” she said.

Bumblebees are among the few “buzz pollinators” in the bee world, making them uniquely important visitors to tomatoes, eggplants and blueberries, among other plants. (See a short, remarkable Smithsonian video to learn more at bit.ly/buzz-pollination.)

What can we do for bumblebees? Plant early-blooming trees or shrubs such as American hazelnut, pussy willow, red maple, serviceberry, chokeberry, native cherries, and highbush blueberry.

Apple trees, though not native, can help, too. Among native perennials, we can plant golden alexanders, golden ragwort (not the same as ragweed), lupine, harebell, blue-eyed grass, Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, beardtongue, and woodland strawberries. Dandelions, though not native, also help.

If you want to see some of these early native flowers, try woodlands, streamsides, and rocky ledges before mid-May when the tree canopy becomes dense. Or join a walk at Connecticut College Arboretum in New London on Friday, May 3, at noon. There’s also a walk for children and their grown-ups at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 10. Both are free of charge. Email arbor@conncoll.edu or call (860) 439-5020 for more information.

Stoner also publishes an extensive library of pollinator resources.

Visit Bumble Bee Watch to learn more about this species and how you can help.

Whenever the news cycle begins to make me feel as though there’s nothing I can do to help, I get some help from something Mother Teresa is credited with saying: “We can’t all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love.”

This earth month, why not do small things for small creatures, with great love?

Kathy Connolly is a landscape writer and speaker from Old Saybrook. Reach her through her website, SpeakingofLandscapes.com.