World Bee Day

Besides Apis Mellifera , there are other 11 known honeybees species and hundreds of stingless bees. In many cases, these bees have spiritual and cultural significance, medicinal purposes or are used as environmental indicators. Pollinators such as bees, birds and bats, pollinate 87 leading food crops worldwide. Around 10 percent of the total economic value of agricultural output for human food is dependent on insect pollination. About three quarters of the food we eat depend, at least in part, on pollinators. Almost 90 percent of the world’s flowering wild plants (approximately 308 000 species) depend, to varying degrees, on pollinators for their reproduction. Over 200 000 species of animals are pollinators; the vast majority of them are wild and include more than 20 000 species of bees. Pollination enables the production of an abundance of diverse and nutritious fruits, vegetables, and nut species. Protecting bees and other pollinators is one of the pillars of the transformative chang...

  Globalisation is taking place in beekeeping , as in every other sector. Beekeeping with European races of honeybees , plus all associated technology, is being spread around the world. The consequences of competition between introduced (exotic) honeybees and indigenous honeybee species and races are unknown.

  Bees and trees belong together. The honeybees and stingless bees have originally developed in forest biotopes. Given the choice, wild honeybees chose nesting places in trees rather than in an open landscape. Most often the honeybees prefer to build their combs or nests high in trees instead of close to the ground, but bees nests can be found everywhere in a tree. In savannah areas with bushfires in the dry season, a high nesting place is an advantage. When beekeeping is present in a forest, the beekeepers will be interested in protection of the forests and especially the tall trees preferred by the bees . When enough bees are present in a forest, they provide a better pollination that leads to improved regeneration of trees and conservation of the forest’s biodiversity .