UN Holidays - World Bee Day

“Every thing is either there or not And honey - I just don’t understand what the secret is - if it exists, then it’s immediately gone!” - sang Winnie the Pooh in the popular Soviet cartoon The bear loved honey, but wild bees prevented him from enjoying the delicacy Insects resisted entering their hives in tree hollows And this is not surprising, because the ancestors of bees that lived on Earth more than 50 million years ago are considered to be wild wasps As a result of evolution, they lost their hunting instincts and began to feed their offspring with plant foods - nectar and pollen People appreciated the nutritional and other qualities of honey and bee products Initially, people were engaged in bee farming, breeding insects in tree hollows After a while, it was replaced by beekeeping in logs and hives They were not located in forests, but in apiaries not far from the homes of their owners Anton Janša (1734-1773) is considered the founder of modern beekeeping He owns many achievements and discoveries in this branch of the economy Therefore, on Anton Jansch's birthday, May 20, World Bee Day is celebrated In honor of World Bee Day, exhibitions and fairs are held where they sell not only honey, but also propolis, royal jelly and beeswax Each of these products has long been used by traditional medicine for medicinal purposes Avicenna and Pythagoras also spoke about the beneficial properties of honey The ancient Greek philosopher owed his longevity to its daily use Honey is known not only as a natural substitute for refined sugar and the basis for intoxicating drinks, such as sbiten or beer, but also as a medicinal product It helps get rid of gastritis and stomach ulcers, fungal and infectious diseases, wounds and burns Honey also nourishes the skin, cleanses the blood and strengthens the immune system Today, science knows more than 15 thousand varieties of bees One hive produces up to 150 kg of honey during the year When producing it, bees fly around more than 8 million plants to collect nectar - linden, acacia, rapeseed, buckwheat, sweet clover, etc In addition to flower honey, insects also produce honeydew honey from dew from leaves and honeydew on leaves - a product of animal origin A worker flying with a load can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h During one honey collection, it covers a path equal to the distance from the Earth to the Moon If the flight to the hive or log is very long, the bee can eat up to half of the collected nectar World Bee Day has been celebrated annually on May 20 since 2017 The holiday encourages farmers and the government to work on preserving the natural habitats of bees and hives in hollows, and reducing the level of pesticides used to grow honey plants To increase the rate of pollination, it is recommended to plant crops attractive to insects around fields World Bee Day is a great time to remind people of the contribution these hard-working insects make to maintaining the biodiversity of local ecosystems