Though their natural activities, honeybees encourage the healthy growth of flowers, plants, and trees, which in turn serve as habitats for other insects. These honey bees have been widely researched, their diseases and difficulties are best known and they are of significant economic importance. Here is a list of ten reasons Important of Honey Bees in Human Life and the environment. **. Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies are “superorganisms”. The exact cause of the decline in bee numbers was not established, but numerous prob… The pollination service provided by insect pollinators was €153 billion (euros) in 2005 for the main crops that feed the world. To ensure we protect and nurture our honey bee populations and their habitats, it is important that we build a detailed understanding of their behaviour. In the 2000s, scientists sounded the alarm on the decline in the population of the honey bees and particularly the western honeybees in what was, in 2006, termed as the colony collapse disorder. As well as being pollinators, honey bees, Apis mellifera, also produce honey. In fact, thanks to bees, many species of plants are pollinated in forests, meadows and a multitude of ecosystems, resulting in a production of … Do Bees Hibernate. Abstract and Figures Honey is produced by honey-bees as blossom honey or nectar honey by secreting nectars of flowers, and honeydew honey by secreting the exudates of plant sucking insects. You can read about the top ten plants for bees on the BBKA website. Our website is powered using 100% renewable energy. As sustainable energy becomes more prevalent, solar parks have made additional contributions to energy. Other examples of crops which depend on bees for pollination include macadamia nuts, Brazilian nuts, the kiwifruit, avocados, mangoes, almonds, apples, watermelons, passion fruits, and the rowanberry. Nonetheless, honey bees still play a role in the pollination of some crops which are not crucial to human survival. While other insects can pollinate many of these crops, it is only using the honey bee that pollination can be done on a commercial scale. For thousands of years, honey has been used by man for food. To learn more about how we use the cookies, please see our privacy policy. The media sensationalized the story and outlined numerous factors responsible for the disorder ranging from genetically modified crops to cellphone signals. *BBKA Annual honey survey, October 2018 Nesting in beekeeping is provided near the ground, while honeybees themselves would chose nesting places about 5m high (see the inspiring book from Thomas Seeley “Honeybee democracy”). A popular food item, honey is packed with numerous nutrients including sugars, vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and protein. Honey bees, are regarded as the most important insect pollinator globally. The bees produce honey after consuming nectar from flowers, which is then regurgitated by the bees after returning to the hive from foraging. Bees pollinate crops and wild plants, which helps to sustain biodiversity and ensure food security. Due to their production of honey and effectiveness as pollinators, honey bees play a significant role to humans and are reared by farmers. You’ll often find unpasteurised honey locally, which is preservative free and full of flavoursome local fauna. Alarmed by the decline of the bees and the potential ramifications of the disappearance of bees on agriculture, governments around the world put in place measures to protect the bees. • Embrace National Honey Week as we do at Oxygen House, by finding new sweet and savoury dishes to try, educating your staff on the importance of the honeybee, and raise awareness within the community that you live and work. Honeybees were used in Egypt to denote their key political agent and ultimate arbiter of their society. They Produce Honey. Originally reported in North America, the phenomenon was also witnessed in Germany, Ireland, Greece, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. • Bee educated – Learn more about these amazing creatures through the BBKA. In 2018 the UK saw a rise in temperature as heatwaves presented themselves over the summer months and continued into autumn. While honey was originally collected from wild hives, humans semi-domesticated the honey bees by building hives near flowering plants rich in nectar. They need the nectar from the flowers which is a source of vitamins, minerals and fats to them. They can be kept in hives and moved to better foraging conditions. However, due to the bees’ ability to replenish their numbers at a short period (queen bees lay thousands of eggs in a day), the population of the bees gradually grew to be the highest they had been in two decades. By Benjamin Elisha Sawe on October 2 2018 in Environment. Bees boast an overwhelming 4,000 species’ in the United States, and these bees, particularly honey bees, pollenate around 85% of all flowering crops in the entire world. The annual global production of honey stands at over 1.78 million tons, with China being the top honey-producing country as it produces 0.49 million tons of honey each year (equivalent to about 27% of the global production). The honeybees importance to Egyptian society is reflected in the importance of their Pharaohs. Figures from the UN’s organization FAO have it that the value of crops whose pollination is reliant on honey bees stands at $0.2 trillion. In the 2000s, scientists sounded the alarm on the decline in the population of the honey bees and particularly the western honeybees in what was, in 2006, termed as the colony collapse disorder. For healthy bees, we need to see the whole picture, not only single details. Also a wide variety of important products are made from the honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis that bees produce. Honey is a sweet, viscous edible fluid. Ancient civilizations believed that honey had healing abilities and was, in some kingdoms, offered to deities. It is important to keep the honey bees around so that many plants continue to exist. What Do Bees Do In The Winter? Bees also play an important role in the local ecosystem. Honey bees are best known for the production of honey. We use cookies on our website to give you the best possible experience. Low Carbon, which is part of Oxygen House, has placed beehives on selected solar parks across the UK and more than 2 million bees, around 60,000 per hive, now call our solar parks home. Recently, a rumor spread around the globe, advanced by a group of environmentalists and anchored on the colony collapse disorder, which claimed that the disappearance of the honey bee would be detrimental on the human population. August 19 is both the National Honey Bee Day in the United States and the World Honey Bee Day — a day set aside to recognize the important contribution bees make to our lives. More than a third of all crop species in the United States including avocados, almonds, and apples, depend on honeybees for pollination. It may be surprising that the honeybees were able to survive when you think back to the weather the UK experienced in Spring. Rudbeckia laciniate, Verbana species, and Echinacea are just a few of the varieties that bees love to pollenate. The protein from the pollen is used as food for the brood so it is vital that they have a wide variety of flowers available to them. Food security. This special day began back in 2009 when a small group of beekeepers obtained a formal proclamation from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). They are generalist pollinators, this means they visit a wide variety of flowering plants. Welfare, in contrast to the One Health concept I presented already, deals with managed animals. + Cornell University. The honey is a neutral, natural valuable tonic for human body. The prolonged sunny weather and warmth not only caused crops to flourish, but in turn bee colonies were able to continue to thrive on nectar rich plants for longer, and as a result the average honey harvest was up to seven times the UK average. Others such as plantains, cassavas, and bananas propagate through cuttings. The importance of honey. Honey is a valuable economic commodity and is used for medicinal purposes. Solar Parks make ideal homes for bees and their hives as they are secure environments with readily available, undisturbed food sources. Over the past twenty years, bees populations have been decreasing at an ever alarming rate. Originally reported in North America, the phenomenon was also witnessed in Germany, Ireland, Greece, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. They collect the nectar in their sack and then use it to make honey in their hives. Such environmentalists stated that honey bees were crucial in the pollination of the earth’s most essential food crops and even claimed that Albert Einstein had indicated that the human beings would be extinct four years after the extinction of the bees. Honey, Bee Sustainable In 2013, the EU instituted a ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides which were linked to the drop in the bee population. Spring then becomes a crucial time for honey bees as they need to gather nectar and pollen to replenish their stores. These honey bees can be kept as managed species by people for financial benefit because they live in predictable, long term colonies while the value of their pollination services for natural systems and agricultural and other crops often has an even greater value than the … Second, the most important food crops for humans do not require bees for their pollinations, or any insects for that matter. During the winter months bees use up all their stores of honey. Honeybees are of huge economic importance, vital for the pollination of many fruit, vegetable and seed crops. From birds to butterflies and ants, bees support other species that also play an … Without the pollination services of honeybees, human population on earth could not be what it is today. Whether you’re interested in learning more about the honeybee, have space in your garden for a hive, or you’re interested in becoming a keeper, the association has some top tips on how to help support your local bees. Above all, however, honey bees are important pollinators in the agriculture industry. The exact cause of the decline in bee numbers was not established, but numerous probabilities were fronted. A hive of activity By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Beeswax, royal jelly and bee bread are also used for items such as mead or medicinal needs to treat anything from burns, eczema, nausea and even the common cold. Individual bees do not display the complete behavioural and ecological range of the species. Importance of honey bees for sustaining life on earth All bee species are incredibly important to balance different ecosystems. Pollination. • Plant pollen-rich foliage in your garden. As its name suggests, the honey bee is best known for its ability to convert nectar into honey, a sticky brown substance that has numerous uses. Bees have been around for over 100 million years+, and unfortunately the effects of climate change will inevitably impact the life of the honey bee. Which Crops and Plants Are Pollinated By Honey Bees? Also, it's important to be aware of differences between raw honey and processed honey. After Egypt the honeybee is continually used as a symbol of monarchy or royalty. Like all other bees, the honey bees have a well-structured social family made up of a queen, numerous drones, and workers. With the increasing commercial value of honey, bees are becoming a growing generator of income, livelihood strategy and means of food security for many small-scale producers and forest dwellers in many developing countries. In order to be able to feed the world’s growing population, we need ever more food, which must be diverse, balanced and of good quality to ensure the progress and well-being of humankind. Crops whose pollination is dependent on the honey bee are valued at over $15 billion in the United States. Out of the over 2,000 species of bees known to science, the honey bee is one of the most important to humans. Whether you have a window-box, an allotment, hanging baskets or vast green space, you can still help support honeybees by providing them an essential and tasty treat or forage. The common phrase, the ‘bee’s knees’ is unfortunately less accurate than the cat’s whiskers, but although a bee doesn’t technically have knees, it’s fascinating how far their tiny legs and wings carry them. Honey bees play a crucial role in human society. They provide numerous products that can be used for many different things. The aptly named, Beast from the East’s arctic blast covered much of the country in bitter chills, but the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) reports the honeybees remained unscathed. Honey has numerous health benefits and is the only insect created substance that has all the properties to sustain life! The honey bees produce the honey as a food source for the colony, and the honey is stored in the hive as a reservoir for consumption when other food sources become hard to come by. As mentioned above, Bees are the only insects that can create honey. It’s thought 75% of food crops are now dependent on animal pollination which plays a critical part in our food chain. As effective pollinators, honey bees are instrumental in the global production of certain foods that are reliant on insects for pollination. As is evident, most of the crops which require bees for their pollination are either nuts or fruits, and while these crops are important for nutrition, human survival is not hedged on their survival. • Buy local honey and keep your food miles down. It is estimated that about 100g of honey provides equivalent nutrition to 6 liters of milk or 170g of beef. Starvation, fungi, mite infestations, and malnutrition were other possible causes behind the colony collapse disorder. While pathogens and diseases are mainly threatening managed European honey bees [13, 14], the decrease in wild bees, among other flying insects, seems to be especially driven by land-use change and intensification [15, 16••]. #importanceofhoneybees #honeybees #explainervideo Beekeepers in this area can safely remove surplus honey for human consumption without harming the colony as long as they leave enough honey (50-60 pounds) for the colony to survive. Honeybees are one of the most important pollinators for both wild and domestic plants. Let’s take a look at the amazing world of bees and acknowledge all they do for us: Different Types of Bees. Honey Bees Play a Role In Our Health & Lifestyle. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions © 2020 worldatlas.com. Bees are therefore pushed to “high performance animals” which may cut resources from health. A honey bee can fly between 15-20mph and a strong colony can fly the equivalent distance of home and the moon each day. Another importance of bees to the ecosystem is that they produce honey. Beekeepers in the United States cumulatively earn more money by renting out honey bees for pollination than from proceeds of the production of honey. The life of a worker bee is a busy one and those bees born in the summer months live to around 40 days, compared to those in the autumn surviving until the following spring as they huddle together through winter to keep warm. A serious famine would arise with a detrimental effect on the quality of life. The other produce from bees that has found widespread use in the human world is wax. Processed honey is created by large food companies that extract bee pollen. The disappearance of honey bees would trigger an inevitable chain of events that could actually impact our health and nutrition. Insects don’t show their well-being, fear or stress in a way that’s easy to understand for us. As a rule of thumb, the darker the honey the better the medicinal effects. While processed honey might taste good, raw honey is much better a… It contains sugars, vitamins and minerals that are easily absorbed by the body. The importance of bees. Bees are essential for human life on this planet, but the sad and scary truth is that they are rapidly dying out. During the winter months bees use up all their stores of honey. Of high import to note is the fact that these plants are pollinated by different species of bees including the bumblebees, carpenter bees, orchid bees, squash bees, and solitary bees, and so do not depend solely on the honey bees for their pollination. An issue specific to honey bees is the lack of suitable habitat for foraging caused by the loss of hedgerows, woodland and meadows rich in plant species as the rising human population expands. No less than 84% of plant species and 76% of Europe’s food production depend on pollination by bees. If honey bees disappear and we do not find replacements that can do the work they do, then foods that we take for granted will decrease in supply and increase in price. It is only bees who can produce honey for us. pollination services are crucial for the mankind, the Global ecosystem and food production. So, how can you help? What also makes them more special than other insect pollinators, is their ability to be managed by beekeepers. **BBKA website, October 2018 Clearly, the benefits that bees … However, sources also state that the disappearance of the honey bee could cause the total loss of at least seven major crops in the United States whose pollination is done commercially using honey bees. According to the USDA, honey bees pollinate about 80% of our flowering plant crops, which is one out of every three bites of food. First, Einstein never made such claims on the significance of the bees to human survival. However, none of these claims are true. All honeybees carry the nectar extracted from plants back to the hive. In the height of summer you can expect around 35,000 bees per hive, which falls to around 5,000 in the winter months. Experts state that the use of bees in the pollination of crops in the United States has a notable impact on agricultural production. This sickly sweet golden liquid is a valuable product not only for its saccharine taste, but also due to its medicinal properties and the fact it is so energy dense. Not only will you be supporting your local beekeepers by buying close to home, but you’ll reap the rewards as untreated honey is full of antibacterial properties and antioxidants. According to the BBKA, the average beehive across England and Wales produced an incredible 30.8lb of honey this year compared to 23.8lb in 2017*. All sorts of fruit and vegetables are pollinated by honey bees, such as broccoli and squash, apples and almonds. So honey-bees are well known as social and polymorphic insects. The genus Apis, which defines all honey bees, is made up of 7 species and 44 subspecies. Yams, sweet potatoes, and potatoes propagate through tubers as they are root vegetables. To ensure we protect and nurture our honey bee populations and their habitats, it is important that we build a detailed understanding of their behaviour. To ensure the well-being of all our bees, trained beekeepers regularly visit and tend to the hives to ensure our bees remain free from mites and parasites – an increasing challenge due to the impacts of climate change. One widely-accepted theory states that the disorder was attributed to a combination of three main factors; pesticides, pathogens, and parasites. They mix the nectar with their saliva in a cell to produce honey. “Two Studies On Bee Evolution Reveal Surprises.” December 2006. However, globally we are facing a pollinator crisis due to intensive agriculture, climate change, pests and disease. Honey production. The true social organization (eusociality) of honey-bees is well understood in the study of Apis mellifera. Humans have consumed honey for thousands of years, and there are paintings on cave walls dating back 8,000 years which depict the harvesting of wild honey. Management brings additional challenges, especially with honey bees. Squash and pumpkins are important food sources for millions of people around the world, and these crops rely on bees for pollination. For thousands of years people have kept honey bees and used honey as a food product, for its medicinal qualities, and even in cosmetics. Beeswax is the primary source of wax in the world, and is used in making a variety of objects. Honeybees may for some seem like a summertime nuisance, but these hardworking creatures play an important role in cross pollinating our crops – from apple to almonds, honeybees’ nectar of the gods or perhaps more commonly known as honey is just one of their by-products. 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