Queen Bey may have to take a backseat on May 20th, there’s another and dare I say more important Queen Bee in town.
For the past four years, the United Nations has declared May 20th as World Bee day. This day is both the birthday of pioneering Slovanian beekeeper Anton Janša, and a day to acknowledge the importance of pollinators for maintainting a balance of biodiversity as well as food security. Janša’s family is believed to have used Slovanian architecture to create a version of our modern wooden apiaries in the 18th Century. He is still noted to be one of the best beekeepers in Slovania.
The alliterative theme for this years Bee Day is “Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees”. In recent years, multiple factors have been stacked against the bee population; namely climate change, and most recently food scarcity due to COVID-19. According to the UN 90% of wild flowering plants, and 75% of food crops require bees and other animals for pollination. Without bees and other pollinating insects, most flowering plants and crops would be diminished within six months. This will force farmers to convert to growing starches like wheat and potatoes only ruining both the diversity in our diets as well as biodiversity. Yet still human activities such as the use of pesticides continue to harm bee and pollinating animal communities.
So after all this you must be just buzzing to be involved in the preservation and salvation of bee populations. There are many simple ways to get involved in saving the bees. My personal favourite is planting flowering plants that attract bees such as sunflowers, basil, oregano, melons, tomatoes and many more. You can beautify your garden or grow your own food while supporting bee populations! Its also important to remember to limit the use of pesticides on gardens and crops as these can harm bees and other pollinating insects. Additionally, you can support local honey producers and financially support apiaries preserving bee populations. In fact, it is illegal to import honey to Trinidad and Tobago to avoid the risk of foreign diseases impacting local bees. Proactive measures like these can continue to boost and save our bees.
These tiny fuzzy insects often go overlooked but they are absolutely essential to preserving life as we know it. So do what you can to help save these 20 000 species of bees this Bee Day. We bee-lieve in you!
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