We often say "valuable as a bee." The fact that one bee visits and pollinates more than 1000 flowers in one day speaks volumes about how valuable bees really are! And how important are these lovely insects for nature and people?
In addition to giving us honey and other bee products, they also play a significant role in pollinating plants.
If we were to measure their economic effect, bees bring five times more income to growers, farmers and fruit growers than to beekeepers.
They are the most diligent creatures on the planet, and it takes an average of about 1,120 bees to pollinate about 2,000,000 flowers to produce about a pound of honey.
The first bees developed in the area of tropical climate. They were also present in the area of today's Europe, because it then had a tropical climate. However, the gradual cooling drove them to the area of South Asia, which is considered the cradle of bee development.
There, more advanced methods of temperature regulation were developed, so colder areas also settled. Almost all species of bees are represented in South Asia - except Apis mellifere, a species of bee that is dominant in our areas.
The importance of bees in the world is huge, if it were not for them, thousands of plants would disappear, and millions of people would starve in the next few years. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) have been producing honey for 150 million years and they are the only insect that produces food that humans eat. They are also ecologically vital as pollinators.
Honey bees get a ‘job’ in the hive based on their age. For example, crankshaft jobs look like this:
1 - 2 days of age: they spend their days cleaning the cells, starting with the one in which they were born
3 - 5 days of age: feed on older larvae
6 - 11 days of age: feed on younger larvae
12-17 days of age: produce wax, make ‘honey pots’, carry food and perform funeral duties
18 - 21 days of age: guards at the entrance to the hive, and protect it from intruders
22 days, until death (40 - 45 days): they collect nectar, pollen, water, pollinate.
Needless to say, honey is healthy for humans. It helps in the treatment of many diseases, thanks to the small bees that work hard and collect miraculous nectar. Let's try to prevent the extinction of bees, because if they disappear, we will also disappear.
