LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Those interested in bees, butterflies and other pollinators and how to protect them can take part in a number of free workshops being held in north-central and northeast Nebraska this summer.

The first of seven Nebraska Game and Parks workshops on the power of pollinators was held Wednesday in Norfolk. The other six will take place in Neligh, Battle Creek, O’Neill, Bassett and again in Norfolk at various dates through Aug. 26.

Pollinators are critical to the environment, food supply and economy, but their numbers are in decline. Establishing backyard pollinator gardens as a source of food and shelter for pollinators can help protect those populations.

Those who attend a workshop will receive a pollinator garden planting guide, a pollinator invertebrate identification book and milkweed seedlings, critical for monarch butterflies.