Bees. Polly Dot / Pixabay.com / 2014 / CC0 1.0
The 20th of May is World Bee Day.
Bees not only make honey for us, but also pollinate our crops. Three-quarters of our crops depend on pollinators such as bees. [1]World Bee Day. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 20 May 2021. Accessed May 2021 at http://www.fao.org/world-bee-day/en/ Historically, beeswax, another product of bees, was also used to seal food containers such as bottles, crocks, etc.
The purpose of today is:
- to raise awareness of the vital role that bees play in the eco system and in the food supply system;
- to draw attention to measures that will protect bees;
- make people aware that bees are vital for food security and agricultural livelihoods.
In the past few decades, bees have been affected by insecticides and habitat loss.
To help them out, bee friendly flowers that you can plant in your garden or on your balcony include alliums, bee balm, buddleja, non-hybrid dahlias, foxgloves, heather, honeysuckle, hyssop, lavender, sage, and snapdragons.
Did you know? Honey can contain botulism spores, which the acidity of an adult’s stomach can deal with, but that of an infant, can’t? That’s why it’s strongly cautioned never to feed honey to a child less than 1 year old. (It’s also for this reason that whenever honey is used to dress a wound, only medical-grade sterile honey is used, to avoid causing wound botulism.) [2]Infant Botulism. Health Canada. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-safety-vulnerable-populations/infant-botulism.html
#BeeDay #Savethebees #WorldBeeDay
Website: https://www.worldbeeday.org/en/
Activities for today
- make a recipe with honey;
- read about mead;
- to support local beekeepers, go shopping for a more expensive, craft kind of honey than you would usually get;
- sponsor an urban bee hive;
- in your garden, plan flowers which bloom at different times of the year;
- plan to reduce your use of insecticides or lobby for your municipality to do it.
Recipes
History
The 20th of May was chosen for World Bee Day because it is the birthday of Anton Janša, who was born on 20 May 1734 in Breznica, Slovenia. He pioneered modern beekeeping.
The observance was approved in December 2017 by the UN General Assembly and held for the first time on 20 May 2018
Further reading
Evelyn Underwood, Gemma Darwin and Erik Gerritsen. Pollinator Initiatives in EU Member States: Success Factors and Gaps. Institute for European Environmental Policy. 14 December 2017.
Sources
The Buzz About World Bee Day. National Public Radio. 20 May 2021. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.npr.org/2021/05/20/998482999/the-buzz-about-world-bee-day.
Hunt, Katie. 5 surprising things about bees on World Bee Day. CNN. 20 May 2021. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/20/world/world-bee-day-2021-five-things-scn/index.html
World Bee Day: 7 ways to support bees in your garden. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 19 May 2021. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/nature/2020/0520/1139565-world-bee-day-7-ways-to-support-bees-in-your-garden/
References
| ↑1 | World Bee Day. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 20 May 2021. Accessed May 2021 at http://www.fao.org/world-bee-day/en/ |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Infant Botulism. Health Canada. Accessed May 2021 at https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-safety-vulnerable-populations/infant-botulism.html |