Busy as a stamp

You’ve heard the term “Busy as a bee,” but did you know that pollinators — bats, bees, butterflies and birds — are responsible for about one-third of all the food we eat and the bev­erages we drink? Or that pollination, the transfer of pollen within flowers, or from one flower to another of the same species, is the basis of all fruit and seed production?

Now that’s busy.

New stamps recognizing the contributions of these insects and animals were issued recently in Washington, DC, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the culmina­tion of National Pollinators Week.

The stamps can be purchased online at the Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop, by calling toll-free 800-STAMP-24, at philatelic centers nationwide and at local Post Offices.