Bee Engaged

Bees are among the hardest working creatures on the planet. 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. There was a time when we saw more bees in and around our gardens. When was the last time you saw a bee? Where have the bees gone? Bees and other pollinators are fundamental for the health of ecosystems and food security. They help maintain biodiversity and ensure the production of nutritious food. However, intensive monoculture production and improper use of pesticides pose serious threats to pollinators by reducing their access to food and nesting sites, exposing them to harmful chemicals, and weakening their immune systems. World Bee Day is observed on May 20th each year. The theme this year is “Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agricultural production”. The United Nations (UN) adds that World Bee Day 2023 calls for global action to support pollinator-friendly agricultural production and highlights the importance of protecting bees and other pollinators, particularly through evidence-based agricultural production practices. Did you know that out of close to 20 000 species of bees only 7 of them are honeybees? Western honeybees produce 1.6 million tonnes of honey per year! This amazing product is a natural sweetener that also has antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Honey has been a part of human civilization for millennia. The ancient Egyptians used honey for medicinal purposes, such as healing wounds; they also used beeswax to embalm the dead and create artificial light. Today, products like honey, beeswax and other byproducts provide additional income to rural families. Urgent Action Needed. Given the current state of decline of bees it is possible that a generation of children will not know what a bee looks like unless it is in a book or in a museum. The United Nations paints a bleak picture; 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, and about 17 percent of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, face extinction globally. The UN theorizes that 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. Survival Mode. More than 75 percent of the world’s food crops depend, to some extent, on pollination. Pollinators, like bees, butterflies, birds, moths, beetles, and even bats, help plants reproduce. Fruits and vegetables are actually plant babies. We do not often consider them in this way, but seeds, fruits and some vegetables come from a plant that has been pollinated. Bees are part of the reason we even have some of that picnic food! The survival of humanity is intricately linked to the survival of bees. Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from human activities. Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. Nearly 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land. Not only do pollinators contribute directly to food security, they are keys to conserving biodiversity. The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which would significantly contribute to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries. Helping Bees. The USA honey market held a market value of USD 2,473.5 million in 2021 and is likely to reach USD 4,970.3 million by the year 2030. The global bee industry is likely to grow extensively over the anticipated period due to the rising demand for natural sweeteners and increasing utilization in drug manufacturing. Furthermore, the rising trend of health consciousness and awareness regarding the medicinal properties is fueling the market growth. The Ministry of Africulture values Jamaica’s apiculture industry at $2 billion. Jamaica’s apiculture sector continued to grow in 2020 with some 3,000 investors managing just over 3,500 apiaries with approximately 65,000 bee colonies valued at about $2.6 billion or US$17 million. Plants and pollinators have a mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationship. They need one another to survive and have therefore evolved that way. Native, local plants are the ones that will be most adapted to native bees. Planting a diverse set of native plants which flower at different times of the year can make a huge difference for pollinators. These little ones need water after buzzing around all day. Leaving a clean, shallow water bowl, with rocks or sticks in it so that bees don’t drown, is a good way to give the bees a resting spot and some necessary refreshment. Avoid pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in your gardens. They can kill pollinators and poison hives with contaminated nectar or pollen brought by bees from contaminated plants. Try to find natural solutions to pests for the plants in your garden. Leave some areas of the farm as a natural habitat. Create hedgerows with native plants that flower at different times during the year and plant attractive crops such as sunflower and coffee, and fruit trees such avocado and mango. Reduce your use of pesticides, and leave bee-nesting sites untouched. Learn more about bees and conquer your fear. By researching these creatures, you will see that bees are not generally dangerous. Not all bees sting and the ones that do, do it for a reason. Stinging and swarming are self-defense mechanisms. Bees do not intentionally hunt humans. Beekeeping Therapy. As we move beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us have suffered emotionally and mentally from social distancing which was implemented in order to prevent the spread of the disease. As a consequence of social distancing, people across the world became more and more isolated, impacting both their physical and mental health. Globally, mental health disorders affect an estimated 790 million people, with the largest percentages being due to an anxiety disorder or depression (Dattani et al. According to a 2019 study, as well as benefitting the bees, increasing rural spaces in urban areas can boost human mental and emotional well-being. Researchers say the act of beekeeping may help people with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety and depression. Many call it “beekeeping therapy.” Thankfully, once again we can return to the outdoors and ‘bee’ engaged. On this World Bee Day let us commit ourselves to spend more time researching on bees in order to better understand them. Bees are critical creatures to our food security and indeed to our survival. Bee an advocate! Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #WorldBeeDay #SavetheBees #apiculture #foodsecurity