World Bee Day 2020
Learning about bees during a shoot on Grouse Mountain in Whistler.
We all depend on the survival of bees.
Did you know? Most of the world’s vital food crops depend upon bees and other pollinators.
For centuries bees, among the hardest working creatures on the planet, have benefited people, plants and the environment. By carrying pollen from one flower to another, bees and other pollinators enable not only the production of an abundance of fruits, nuts and seeds, but also more variety and better quality, contributing to food security and nutrition.
The following blog post contains information pulled from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization files. Why do they care about bees? Because bees help food security in many ways. Saving bees is part of their #ZeroHunger initiative. Keep reading, you’re getting smarter…
Today bees are under threat. Present species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal due to human impacts. Close to 35 percent of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, face extinction globally.
If this trend continues, nutritious crops, such as fruits, nuts and many vegetable crops will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn and potatoes, eventually resulting in an imbalanced diet.
Intensive farming practices, land-use change, mono-cropping, pesticides and higher temperatures associated with climate change all pose problems for bee populations and, by extension, the quality of food we grow.
The UN General Assembly declared May 20th as World Bee day.
The date for this observance was chosen as it was the day Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern apiculture, was born. Janša came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping is an important agricultural activity with a long-standing tradition.
Shooting a story about the bee hives on Grouse Mountain, in Whistler.
how is the covid-19 pandemic impacting bees?
“Bee keeping is the most wonderful means of poverty alleviation. Because when you train someone to be a bee keeper they have to get interested in preserving nature at the same time” Said Nicola Bradbear, Founder of Bees for Development and President of Apimondia’s Scientific Commission for Beekeeping for Rural Development, in the video below.
“And honey is the most egalitarian food because even the most poor person can produce honey that’s absolutely equal in quality as someone producing it with the most tip top equipment.”
FAO (United Nations’ Food Agriculture Organization) hosts a special discussion on the importance of bees and the threats facing them, moderated by the BBC Radio 4 presenter Martha Kearney.
“The recent COVID-19 pandemic has had an undeniable impact on the beekeeping sector affecting the production, the market and as a consequence, the livelihoods of beekeepers. During the event will be explored the role of beekeeping in supporting rural communities and improving food and nutrition security in this challenging situation.”
Keeping the bee population healthy is of the utmost importance for human health on a normal day. But during the current pandemic, this importance in multiplied 10-fold. That’s because food security is a major issue during a massive global crisis. For more info on Bees x Covid-19 , here’s a video by FAO:
So what can you do to help?
Bee-loud! Spread the word about the plight of bees.
Buy raw honey and other hive products from your nearest local beekeeper or local farmers.
Raise awareness among children and adolescents on the importance of bees and express your support for beekeepers.
Set up a pollinator farm on your balcony, terrace, or garden; you can either make it yourself or buy at any home furnishings store. Planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year.
Sponsor a hive.
Make a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl outside near pollinator plants.
Don't kill them! They can be scary (fun fact: did you know only female bees sting?) but they are working really hard for us! So spread the word, and next time one flies inside your window, shoo it out safely, instead of trying to kill it. Thank it for the smoothie you love while you're bidding it farewell :)
xo AJ