For many thousands of years before the familiar honeybee arrived, a different and varied set of bees has been hard at work in our local ecosystems. Now more than ever, our native pollinators need our help.

“What’s that?” asked a curious fourth grade student. We were standing on the bridge over San Francisquito Creek near El Palo Alto Park, where a class from a nearby Palo Alto elementary school had gathered to learn about the history of the park and to plant native plants along the path.