By: Muhammad Zeeshan Qureshi
Each year, around the globe ‘World Bee Day’ is celebrated on 20th of May with a sole motive to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. People from corners of the world focus on different methods of preservation of bees. Awareness sessions are done, and the caretakers ensure to provide suitable habitat for bees. The practice of beekeeping dates back at least 4,500 years but the reason of celebration of ‘World bee day’ on 20th May is the birth of Slovenian Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping. The science of bee farming is called as Apiculture.
Among other pollinators, bees enhance the propagation of plants and are therefore crucial in food industry. Research reveals bees are responsible to cause almost 35% of agricultural production. However, 1 in 4 species of bees are at risk of extinction, these days. The unfortunate reason of this extinction includes the insane activities of men including use of agrochemicals, non-native species, and pollution. These disturbances bear a heavy cost onto the fitness and consequent survival of said organisms. They profoundly affect the ecological and evolutionary processes involved in insect-plant interaction, causing tremendous shifts in their interrelationships and all the ecosystem services enjoyed by creatures great and small.
Remember, if bees are to be disappeared, so would most of life.
Interesting facts about bees
- Even though bees have jointed legs, but they lack something like a kneecap and therefore do not have knees.
- Around the nectar of two million flowers makes Bees able to synthesize one pound of honey. More surprising is a single bee covers 90,000 miles to get this job done.
- The average life span of a bee is 30-60 days.
- For the production of a teaspoon of honey, a bee spends its whole life collecting nectar from 1000 flowers.
- The flying speed of the bee is 15 miles per hour.
- Bees have senses to color specifically they are attracted to blue, purple, and white colored flowers.
- Communication among the Bees occurs through dancing.
- The production of bees is honey. And because of the antiseptic properties of honey, it is historically used to treat burns and cuts. Also, for the dressing and treatment of certain diseases.
In order to celebrate this day with a productive outcome, one needs to do the following jobs:
- Have Bee breakfast i.e. food containing honey and other various hive products.
- Plant at least a bee-friendly shrub or flower in the garden OR Plant ornamental plant having nectar-bearing flowers in balconies, terraces or gardens.
- Preserve old meadows by providing intense care for their growth. As meadows feature a more diverse array of flowers.
- After blooming of nectar bearing plants, cut and regrow the grass.
- Provide favorable and suitable farming locations for the settlement of bees. In result, they will pollinate our plants.
- Spray specific pesticides either early in the morning or late at night to protect the plants and bees.
- Aware your social contacts to World bee Awareness Day.
Bees; according to Quran e Kareem:
And your Lord inspired to the bee, “Take for yourself among the mountains, houses and among the trees and [in] that which they construct.
Then act from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you]. There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed, in that is a sign for a people who give thought.
Al-Nahl 68-69
Bees; according to Hadith:
The assertive consequences of honey can also be understood by the Hadith said by Prophet PBUH.
Honey is a remedy for every illness and the Quran is a remedy for all illnesses of the mind. Therefore, I recommend to you both remedies, the Quran and the honey.
[Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari]
The writer is a Medical Physiologist and Educationist. He can be reached at [email protected]