Friday May 20th is World Bee Day 2022! Did you know that bees play an essential role in global agriculture, pollinating one-third of the global food supply? Or that of the top 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world’s population, bees pollinate 70%?
Despite this, studies suggest that bee populations in Europe and North America have dropped by about one third since 1970. Worryingly, the UK’s pollinators are vanishing faster than anywhere else in Europe, with research showing that every square kilometer has lost an average of 11 species of bee and hoverfly between 1980 and 2013.
If this depopulation continues, other animal and plant species in our ecosystem are bound suffer, so the full impact of this trend is potentially enormous. It’s now vital that we gain a better understanding of beehive cultivation to address this troubling trend.
