MAY 20- CELEBRATE WORLD BEE DAY

THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY DECLARED MAY 20 WORLD BEE DAY.

Now one of the most significant days of the year in our opinion, Slovenia put forward World Bee Day (then passed by all EU member states) in an attempt to raise awareness about the uncertain future of these amazing pollinators.

You may wonder why bees caught the attention of world powers… Well, the survival of bees is fundamental to food security. Pollinators are directly behind staples such as potatoes, apples, coffee, pepper, pumpkins, and tomatoes to name a few. With rising populations, food production is becoming an urgent problem and we depend on pollinators to help us produce the amount of food we need to survive.

Pollinators however, especially bees, have suffered much including colony collapse and an overall decline by around three- quarters in Europe over the past 30 years, with scientists citing the use of pesticides as a major factor. This has raised the alarm bells of not only beekeepers, but farmers around the world, and now global powers.

Dejan Židan – head of the World Bee Day project and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, quoted, “we must do more than just talk – we must undertake concrete activities to increase care for bees and promote the development of beekeeping – everywhere, including in developing countries.”

This World Bee Day, you yourself can do more for these amazing little creatures by planting for bees in your own backyard, reaching out to your local beekeeping community for education, and supporting bee organisations around the world.

Here are some organisations (and countries!) doing great things for bees and World Bee Day.

EU: In late April, the EU made the decision to ban some of the most harmful insecticides to pollinators from being used in fields, this should come into force by the end of 2018.

Slovenia: A country who loves bees and considers beekeeping equal to other forms of agriculture, there are around 90,000 beekeepers within a population of only two million.

Save the Bees Australia: Now a social enterprise, Save the Bees Australia focuses on saving swarms of bees and re-housing them safely, so as to stop them being harmed by forms of pest control.

Rooftop Bees Melbourne: Rooftop Bees is an organisation bringing beekeeping to the urban population. Their goal is to bring bees back into the city of Melbourne!

At Apiary Made we thank the bees daily for their contribution and strive to protect and cherish these amazing creatures. It is at the heart of everything we do. We can however, always learn more about bees and do more for them in our everyday practises… this World Bee Day is a wonderful reminder of this and an opportunity for further celebration.