Today we join the global community to celebrate the World Bee Day. Bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat, but unfortunately, bees are under serious threat due to human activities. Most crops grown for their fruits (including vegetables such as squash, cucumber, tomato and eggplant), nuts, seeds, fibre and hay require pollination by insects. Pollinating insects also play a critical role in maintaining natural plant communities and ensuring production of seeds in most flowering plants.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen, containing the male gamete of a plant, from the anthers where it is produced to the receptive stigma, the female part of the same or another plant of the same species. This process results in fertilisation, and sexual reproduction of the plant to produce seeds. The main insect pollinators, by far, are bees, and while honey bees are the best known and widely managed pollinators, there are also hundreds of other species of bees, mostly solitary ground nesting species, that contribute some level of pollination services to crops and are very important in natural plant communities.
Bees are very beneficial, therefore there is every need to protect bees and provide support for beekeepers.