May 23, 2020

Bee-ing grateful to our pollinators

If you look at the plate of food on dinner table, you should tip your sun hat to our fuzzy insect friends. To produce these plants require pollination and bees are important pollinators in agriculture system. Globally, 90% of the food supply is contributed by the 87 food crops and bees are leading players of their pollination. It is no wonder that all the major world religions have sacred passages about bees. In a world without bees, experts say man would have no more than four years to live.

Bees not only increase the yield of crops but also improve the quality of produce. Among bees, Honeybees are most abundant and important due to their social characteristics. Besides pollination services honeybees also provide us honey and other products like wax, royal jelly etc. Domesticated honeybee Apis mellifera is considered as third most important agricultural livestock. Other than honeybees, there are 20,000 species of wild bees known worldwide which are as important as honeybees because of their high potential to provide pollination services. In some developed countries these wild bees are also managed by artificial nesting to enhance their population which ultimately can enhance the crop production.

Unfortunately, population of bees is declining rapidly which can badly affect the global food security. Reasons behind that are extensive farming, intensive use of pesticides, habitat loss, climatic changes and most importantly lack of awareness among people regarding significance of bees. In 2017 United Nations General Assembly declared 20th May as World Bee Day and it was first observed on 20th May 2018. This day is now observed worldwide to promote conservation of bees and create awareness among people regarding importance of bees for humanity. Bees are a symbol of healthy ecosystem. So, Save the Bees, Save Humanity!

Posted on May 23, 2020 07:02 AM by ammad1 ammad1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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