Why Are Bees Important?
Bees affect 35% of global agricultural land and pollinate the majority of the planet’s wild plants, which support healthy ecosystems. Of every three bites of food eaten worldwide, one of them depends on pollinators, particularly bees, for a successful harvest.
Yet, despite how significant bees are to the natural environment and human food systems, global bee populations continue to decline. It’s estimated that of the 100 agricultural food crops grown around the world, crops that supply 90% of the world’s food, bees pollinate 70 of them.
Without bees, the availability and diversity of fresh produce would decline substantially, and human nutrition would likely suffer. It’s estimated that bees, acting as pollinators, add $15 billion a year to food production. Below are some reasons why it’s critical to save the world’s bees, both for human well-being and for the protection of the environment.
Pollination Is The Key To Life
What’s your favourite summer crop? If you love macadamias, apples, melons, asparagus, or broccoli, you should tip your sun hat to our fuzzy, insect friends.
In order to germinate, all these plants require the transfer of pollen from the male part of the flower (the anther) to the female part (the stigma). As bees move from flower to flower in search of nectar, they leave behind grains of pollen on the sticky surface, allowing plants to grow and produce food.
Bees earn their reputation as busy workers by pollinating billions of plants each year, including millions of agricultural crops. Without bees, many plants we rely on for food would die off.
Did you know? Bellmere Honey has assisted local macadamia farms successfully pollinate which has been amazing for the bees and the farmers.
Bellmere’s Bees Help the Battle against Climate Change
Evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that climate change is one of the key drivers of the decline of bees globally. Some wild bees and other pollinators have only a small temperature window where they can live. So when temperatures rise, they are forced to head to colder climates to seek refuge, reducing the overall territory they can inhabit, and reducing population sizes. This can have ripple effects on the surrounding ecosystem.
For example, when specialised insect species go extinct, these populations are often replaced by generalist species, which can survive in a wide range of temperatures and conditions. But as generalist species take specialists’ place, the whole system becomes far more susceptible to sudden changes because of their inability to perform specialized functions.
The result can be an ecological flow that threatens the reliability of the entire ecosystem. As climate change accelerates, more ecosystems will be placed under this kind of pressure, and it’s expected that populations will continue to decline.
Being based in sub-tropical Queensland Bellmere Honey’s bees have the best chance of survival, but still need help to sustain and thrive. That’s why Bellmere is committed to rescuing and relocating hives, as well as offering local farms and families the opportunity to host hives that benefits the community and the ecosystem.