World Bee Day Honors Our Busiest Pollinators
World Bee Day – May 20 – Learn the Fascinating Story of How a Small Country Inspired the World and Gave Legal Rights to Their Bee Populations!
Bees mean more to you than you can imagine.
Humanity owes a debt of gratitude to bees.
A few years ago, Slovenia proposed to the United Nations that May 20 be declared World Bee Day. On December 20, 2017, World Bee Day came into existence when 115 UN Member States all co-sponsored a United Nations General Assembly resolution that every year on May 20, the attention of humanity would be focused on how important it is for all of us to preserve bees. USA, Canada, China, the Russian Federation, India, Australia and the European Union Member States and other countries agreed.
World Bee Day is an open invitation to all global communities and individuals to do something for bees. Take whatever action you can take to protect bees. The events calendar shows some activities that have been going on this weekend as well as more that are scheduled for Monday, May 20, 2019.
Learn More About the European Country That Gave Legal Rights to Their Bees and Treats Them Like Fellow Citizens Thanks to Their Rich Beekeeping Heritage
Slovenia is a country that really understands the importance of bees in our lives. It is the only country in the European Union that has granted bees legal protection under the laws on livestock, and this provides a legal basis for supporting and maintaining this subspecies and beekeeping. Nearly every 200th person is a beekeeper according to the worldbeeday.org website.
Legend has it that these beloved bees arrived in Slovenia after the Great Flood... that they may have been the bees on Noah's Ark, and that they were blown by a storm to the fertile land of Slovenia. Whether or not the legend is true, the Slovenians love their Carniolan honey bees.
In 2011 Slovenia led the charge to prohibit certain harmful pesticides that injure and kill bees. This is likely due to the long beekeeping tradition. It is clear that this nation has a true love for the gentle, hard-working and resilient Slovenian Carniolan honey bee that has become part of their national identity. This bee is an above-average wax-making bee with a high sense of hygiene, which helps keep it healthy. The Slovenian climate, flowers and pastures are ideal for the bee, that also has a special love of honeydew on spruce and fir trees. It has lived in this area for millennia.
The Slovenian Embassy in Washington D.C., USA opened its doors to several thousand guests and educated them about the importance of apiculture (beekeeping), preserving the environment, in food production, for medicinal use and as a tourism attraction. They also hope to show how apiculture can grow into a field that offers increasing employment opportunities, from beekeeping to selling honey, beeswax and the other treasures the bees provide us.
Why Do Bees Need Protection?
Lack of diversity in flowering and nectar producing plants, habitat loss due to development of lands, farms being abandoned, a lack of bee-friendly flowers. World climates are shifting, and therefore affecting the predictable seasons bees rely on. Flowers and trees bloom earlier or later than usual. Colony collapse can be caused by neonicotinoid pesticides, and parasites such as varroa mites that suck the life out of bees. Harsh conditions for bees being trucked around the USA for mass-pollinating projects, possibly also microwave and other frequencies. Research was conducted in Switzerland indicates the signal from cell phones may confuse bees as well as cause their deaths.
World Bee Day is meant to raise human awareness that people are ravaging the very ecosystems they depend on for their survival. There are some great ideas on the World Bee Day celebration page of things every human can do to show some bee-love. Some of the easiest are planting nectar-bearing flowers and buying honey or other bee products from local farmer’s markets.
7 Reasons We Need Bees:
The survival of the bee and the survival of humans are entwined. Bees do not need humans, but humans need bees. Bees enhance human life, but human concepts may endanger the lives of bees.
How Do Bees Help Make the Food We Eat?
Bees pollinate one-third of the crops we eat, including potatoes, peppers, almonds, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins and coffee and much more, according to the FAO of the United Nations in New York.
What Else Do They Do for Humans?
Bees do many things in addition to pollination. They make honey in their hives, as well as beeswax, pollen, propolis and royal jelly.
Is Raw Honey Safe to Eat?
Bees are the only insects that make food humans can eat, honey. Honey contains natural preservatives, so bacteria can’t grow in it. Edible honey was found in Egyptian tombs, and it was safe to eat.
If Honey Is So Precious, Why Is It on the Shelf in Every Grocery Store…
To make 1 pound of honey takes 556 worker bees and the nectar from 2 million flowers. The average worker bee, who lives 6 weeks, makes only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. The bees that make one pound of honey fly more than once around the world to gather that one pound.
If honey isn’t a precious substance, what is?
What Makes Bee Products Medicinal?
Honey is an anti-bacterial. Each honey is different depending on the flowers that have been visited by the bees in the making of the honey. For instance, New Zealand manuka honey can be found in the medicine cabinets of herbalists and people who prefer natural medicine. It is used for inflammation, to ease skin disorders and as an anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory salve on wounds. 
From Seasonal Allergies to Dental Health
Eating honey that was made from pollen in your geographic area can rapidly reduce your spring allergy symptoms.
Studies even show manuka honey can attack the harmful oral bacteria that can cause plaque formation, tooth decay and gum inflammation.
Community Cooperation
Observing a bee colony can teach us how to live in peaceful cooperation with one another, where each member of society has a specialty and is valued for contributing to the greater good of the group.
7 Fascinating Fun Facts About Bees 
A bee has 2 pairs of wings, and the wings have tiny teeth that can lock together when the bee flies.
A bee has 2 stomachs - one for eating and the other is a honey tummy for storing nectar collected from flowers, or water, so they can carry it back to their hive.
A bee has 5 eyes - 2 compound eyes and 3 tiny ocelli eyes.
A bee has a straw-like tongue (proboscis) to suck up liquids and mandibles, so they can chew.
Bees carry pollen, a source of protein that helps feed baby bees, on their hind legs which are called pollen baskets.
Bees communicate in unique ways, like through chemical scents (pheromones) and special bee dances.
After a bee processes flower nectar in her stomach she regurgitates it into the honeycomb cells and fans her wings to remove excess moisture. Then it becomes honey.
A foraging bee usually lives about 6 weeks, and during that time flies about 375 miles, says Quora.
So let’s all join together and honor the bee. Make an effort to give back to these selfless little creatures who work relentlessly, create such beauty, and give so freely of all they've got. Let’s show some appreciation and love.
All you have to do is buy a few packs of nectar-producing seeds and plant them, or a few flowers in flower pots and put them in your garden. Tell at least three people you know that you support bees and why, or share a fun bee fact with them.
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Katy - Bee Missionary
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