Why are Bees Important?
Whether they're brightly striped, super fluffy or smaller than your thumbnail (did you know there are over 20,00 species of bees?), bees are vital to our planet.
Here are the top 5 reasons why bees are important:
#1. Pollination
30% of the world’s crops and 90% of all plants require cross-pollination to spread and thrive. Many different insects, birds, rodents, monkeys, and even people pollinate, but bees are the most common pollinators. In Canada, bees are our most important pollinators.
#2. Which leads us to: bees are key to our food supply
Fruits and vegetables all rely on pollinators transporting pollen from one flower to the next. But the value of bees goes beyond fruits and vegetables!
They say that without bees, there would be no nuts, cocoa, tomatoes, apples, or almonds, just to name a few. Bees actually help to produce 1/3 of our food supply.
Could you imagine walking into your grocery store and not seeing shelves lined with food? Without bees, not only would there be few fresh fruits or vegetables, there would also be no products containing honey, almonds, coffee or chocolate. Even milk and beef would be in short supply. That’s right — bees are one of the pollinators responsible for many of the crops used for animal feed. Without them, it would be harder to produce a lot of our meat, egg and dairy products.
#3. They also help us to maintain health
Without the fruits and vegetables that provide us with the vitamins we need to support our health, we’d see big nutritional deficiencies in the human diet. These essential sources of vital nutrients are propped up by bees.
On top of that, there are six different hive products - pollen, honey, beeswax, royal jelly, propolis, and venom – provided by certain species of bees. These are collected and used for nutritional and medical purposes by humans because of their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and even anti-cancer properties! In a 2020 study, scientists found evidence that melittin, a component in honeybee venom, could kill cancer cells.
In traditional medicine, people use honey when treating a wide variety of conditions. Some of these have included eye diseases, bronchial asthma, throat infections, fatigue, dizziness, eczema and wounds. Today, honey is commonly used to help treat allergies, colds and aiding digestion.
#4. Bees play an important role in our environment, sustainability and biodiversity
Not only are bees the cornerstone of our food system, they also help support the plants and trees that provide the air we breathe. Pollinators (including moths, flies, beetles, birds, bats and more) are part of maintaining the lungs of our planet. They are truly a vital part of many ecosystems.
Bees play a part in every aspect of the ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, and other plants, which serve as food and shelter for creatures large and small. Bees contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems that allow a number of diverse species to co-exist.
By propagating wildflowers, trees, and other plant species, they support stable and biodiverse ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems are better able to support other wildlife and help to foster ecological resilience in the face of environmental challenges such as climate change and habitat loss.
#5. Lessons for Society
Bees are very intelligent, and people have applied knowledge of their mannerisms and social interactions when creating human initiatives. It has been suggested that studying the actions of bees could help experts develop emergency plans to evacuate people from an overcrowded environment. At other times, scientists have observed honeybee dances to help understand where changes are taking place in the environment. We humans can also learn a lot from the way a hive works together to support survival!