Bees in the woods: Outdoor lighting considerations

(light gentle music)

- So we've spoken a lot about pollinators

that are busy during the
daylight hours, including bees

but there's also an entire group

of pollinators that pollinate at night

and they require a dark habitat
to be able to do their jobs.

One of our most important
nocturnal pollinators are moths

but moths unfortunately are
attracted to landscape lighting

or porch lights on our homes.

So, what we can do to create
a dark, nocturnal habitat

for them is to first and foremost,

turn off those lights at night.

If you don't need them, keep them off.

The next best thing
you can do is make sure

your lights are set to motion sensors

or on timers so they only
turn on when there's activity.

If you do need to use outdoor lighting,

try lighting such as these.

These are able to cast the light downwards

so you're illuminating
the ground and not the sky

and you're less likely
to attract pollinators

such as moths over to the lights

and away from the important
work of nocturnal pollination.

Another important problem with
artificial lights at night

is how it affects migrating birds.

So turning those lights
off also helps them

get where they're going.
(light gentle music)