World Bee Day

The theme for World Bee Day 2023 is: ‘Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agricultural production.’ World Bee Day calls for global action to support pollinator-friendly agricultural production and highlights the importance of protecting bees and other pollinators, particularly through evidence based agricultural production practices. 

Bees are crucial for ensuring our food security. Almost three quarters of the crops we eat depend on bees and other pollinators. However, many bee species and other pollinators are declining due to human-driven climate change. 

Here in the UK May is a busy time for beekeepers who are tending their bees and watching them progress into strong colonies and often bringing in a spring honey crop depending on the weather and forage available.

Did you know?

• The vast majority of pollinator species are wild, including more than 20,000 species of bees.
• Close to 75 percent of the world’s crops producing fruits and seeds for human use depend, at least in part, on pollinators. 
• Our food security, nutrition and the health of our environment depend on bees and pollinators. 
• Pollinators contribute to 35 percent of the world’s total crop production, pollinating 87 of 115 leading food crops worldwide.
• In many areas, bees, pollinators, and many other insects are declining in abundance and diversity. 
• Everyone can make a difference to support, restore and enhance the role of bees and pollinators.