Today, May 20, the World Bee Day 2024an important date to appreciate these small pollinating insects and their enormous importance in maintaining global ecosystem balance and ensuring the survival of all living things.
The importance of bees
In the World Bee Day 2024 We should not forget that the best known ecosystem service of bees is the one that allows the production of honey, wax, pollen, royal jelly and/or propolis. The health benefits of consuming these products for humans are enormous, but the ongoing contribution this makes to the beekeeping industry is also significant.
These products are the result of a transformation process carried out within the hive by managed bees, but in reality the pollination of crops carried out by all kinds of pollination agents is responsible for the production of many foods (fruits, vegetables) and other raw materials (cotton, rubber, medicines).
He World Bee Day 2024 It is created precisely with the aim of promoting knowledge of the value that these small insects have in the food sovereignty of all nations in the world. And how necessary it is to protect and preserve them.
World Bee Day 2024: bees and people
Bees contribute greatly to our diet, but also to the economic balance of agriculture. Furthermore, they play an active role in the production and reproduction of wild fauna and flora in all types of landscapes. Therefore, they provide an essential service by preserving ecosystems, many of which we integrate and depend on.
In the World Bee Day 2024 We must be very clear that people would not starve if bees disappeared, but that the consequences of their extinction would be very harmful. Since 40% of the nutrients we currently consume come from pollinator-dependent crops, including 90% of vitamin C.
This implies that although we could survive its complete disappearance, our health would be seriously affected. In the richest areas of the planet it would be possible to replace some of the missing food. But the most vulnerable countries could lose a large part of their population due to famine, as there are countries that rely on certain crops as the basis of their diet and do not have sufficient resources to make the changes that would allow them will propose to lead the way. a situation like this.
The decline of bees is very real
These extremely valuable insects are declining at an alarming rate and that is one of the most important messages of the World Bee Day 2024. Experts agree that the intensification of agricultural activities, agrochemicals and pesticides, the destruction of natural habitats, diseases, climate change and/or invasive exotic species such as the Asian hornet (which is deadly to bees) are causing this decline.
All of these factors are to blame for anthropogenic activities, as humans in general care about their own benefit and well-being, even at the cost of the survival of other species. A good example of this is that agricultural policies, especially those of the most developed countries, promote and prioritize productivity over quality and sustainability.
In the World Bee Day 2024 We must remember that if bees really disappeared, chain reactions would occur involving all economic sectors, societies and ecosystems. Crops that rely on this type of pollination would see their yields decline, leading to higher costs and lower profits, the market would suffer and prices would skyrocket worldwide, so an orange, for example, would cost a fortune.
This would endanger global health as citrus fruits provide the majority of vitamin C consumed. But it would also be affected biodiversity, biodiversity because each tree not only bears fruit but is itself an ecosystem and if it disappears, other species in a chain would be wiped out, disrupting the local ecosystem balance, ultimately affecting the planetary ecosystem. When the threats to these insects have passed, it is time for the World Bee Day 2024 losing your reason for being.