On its global day, the bees benefit and are affected by the "Coffid-19" closures.

While the Covid-19 pandemic imposed closures in most countries of the world, wildlife encountered less human turmoil, traffic and polluting fumes.

Wild bees are one of the most important insects in our world, but the numbers of bees are rapidly decreasing all over the world due to habitat loss, pollution and pesticides.

The world will look completely different if it is free of bees, as our lives will change dramatically. The bees are the most important pollinators in the world, as they fertilize a third of the food we eat and 80% of the flowering plants. Nearly 90% of the types of wild flowering plants in the world depend Depending wholly or in part on animal pollination, as well as the dependence of more than 75% of the world's food crops and 35% of global agricultural land on it, and thus pollinators contribute directly to food security, as well as being the key to preserving biodiversity.

The economic value of bees and other pollinated insects globally is around $ 150 billion, according to a study by the University of Reading.

Why is a world day dedicated to bees?

It is celebrated every year since 2018, a global day of bee awareness of the role fundamental that bees play and others of pollinators to maintain the safety of people and the planet, and this year 's theme is "Action for bees"
and celebrate this day favored the efforts of the Government of Slovenia , with the support of the International Federation of the Association of beekeepers ( Apimondia), which prompted the United Nations General Assembly to proclaim May 20 World Bee Day.

This date was chosen as it coincides with the day Anton Janša, a pioneer in modern beekeeping, was born. Janša belongs to a family engaged in beekeeping in Slovenia where beekeeping is an important and ancient agricultural activity.

Bees in the shadow of the Covid 19 pandemic

One of the biggest environmental impacts of the global shutdown has been the significant decrease in air pollution, as air pollution greatly reduces the strength and longevity of floral scents, according to a 2016 study that pollutants decompose odor molecules from plants, making it difficult for bees to discover food.
 This means that bees often end up flying more to find food and return it to their nests.
The study found that ozone concentrations of 60 parts per billion, which the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as "low," were sufficient to cause chemical changes that confused bees and prevented them from searching for food efficiently.

"In a world that lives with less air pollution, bees can make shorter and more profitable trips, and that may help them raise more young bees," said Mark Brown, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at Royal Holloway University in London.

Just as fewer cars on the road mean other benefits to bees, too, bee and waspeed deaths are likely to decrease as car trips decrease during shutdowns, as a 2015 study by Canadian researchers estimated that 24 billion bees and wasps are killed by vehicles on roads across North America. Public.

Do bees fully benefit from the closure?

But resting wild bees does not mean that it is a good time for honey. Commercial beekeepers and farmers who depend on them to pollinate their crops struggle because of travel restrictions.

Commercial bees in Canada and many European countries rely heavily on seasonal workers and on importing queen bees from all over the world to renew their colonies which is something they struggle for due to the travel restrictions imposed, according to President of the International Beekeepers Federation, Jeff Betis, the United Kingdom, gets For example, on many honeybees from Italy the bees are usually transported by plane, but since the flights are stopped, the bees are transported across the continent by car, and if the beekeepers cannot find workers to produce honey, the colonies will become crowded. This means that the bees will divide and leak to form new colonies, which makes managing them difficult for beekeepers.

For example, about two million bee colony are needed to produce almonds in California alone, and almond trees bloom in February and March, and by April, visiting commercial hives are moved to other parts of the country to pollinate different crops, and this transition has taken longer this year as Some drivers were informed of the necessity of self-quarantine for 14 days when crossing the country's borders, which posed a great challenge and delayed the production and vaccination process.

The need to start working

Bees face an existential threat. There is an increase in the extinction rates of existing species from 100 to 1,000 times over the normal rate due to human impacts. About 35% of invertebrate pollinators, especially bees and butterflies, and about 17% of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, face the threat of extinction worldwide.

If this context continues, basic crops such as rice, corn and potatoes will be replaced by nutritious crops such as fruits, nuts, and many vegetable crops, which ultimately leads to a dysfunctional diet.

Intensive cultivation practices, land use change, mono crops, the use of pesticides and the high temperatures associated with climate change, together, pose challenges to bee colonies, thereby affecting the quality of the food we grow.

Seven bee-dependent foods

Bees pollinate a third of what we eat and play a vital role in preserving the ecosystems on the planet. About 84% of crops grown for human consumption need bees or other insects to vaccinate them to increase yields and quality. Pollination bee not only produces more fruits, berries and seeds, but also may give better quality products.

Among the products that depend on bees: almonds - pumpkin - onions - strawberries - berries - cucumbers - apples