Importance of Honeybees

Humans have always associated honeybees with honey which is the first sweetener ever produced. Now although some people know that the honeybee is also a pollinator, few realise just how much these hard-working insects contribute to our wellbeing.

As the bees travel from blossom to blossom in search of nectar, they transfer pollen from plant to plant. This cross-fertilises the plants, enabling them to bear fruit or seeds and ensure that they can continue to multiply and survive thus contributing to ‘biodiversity ’.

Apart from helping in our gardens and wildlife habitats, honeybees help farmers to produce more crops like almonds, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, plums, cucumbers, sunflowers and apples Even crops like oil seed rape, principally wind-pollinated, gain a more even and reliable seed set from bee visits.

There are many types of pollinating bees – bumble bees, stingless bees, solitary bees but by far the most important are the honeybees. Honeybees offer special benefits as they also they produce honey, wax and other products that can be used in manufacturing, cosmetics and health aids.

The UK honeybee population has been declining these last few years due to parasites and diseases against which they have no natural defences. Urban development, changes in agricultural practices, use of pesticides and unseasonal bad weather are also detrimental. Nearly all colonies in the wild have died out and without beekeepers to care for them the honeybees could disappear in a few years. These problems have severe knock-on effect on honey production and pollination.

Now a new phenomenon called ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ has recently hit hives in Europe and North America. Whole colonies of bees are simply disappearing; hundreds of thousands of bees are no longer around to do their job. The mystery disappearances have highlighted the crucial role that honeybees play in the food chain that brings fruit, vegetables and even meats (animals eat crops pollinated by honeybees) to our dinner tables.

Most of the world’s crops depend on pollination by bees. About one-third of human food is derived from insect-pollinated plants. The honeybee is responsible for 80 per cent of this pollination. The value of honeybee pollination to UK agricultural economy is more than £160m every year. That works out about £600 per colony.

In 2008 our UK beekeepers reported colony losses between 30% to 50%.

Honeybees are vanishing at an alarming rate all over the world. We are trying to stop the decline.