What’s all the buzz about the bees? Firstly, bees pollinate, which means they carry pollen from flower to flower in order to ensure fertilization and successful seed and fruit production for plants. This makes bees tremendously important to agriculture. Amazingly enough, the honey bee pollination is worth more than $14 billion annually to U.S. agriculture. This insects, who some consider annoyances, save us tons of money. This can be explained by this shocking statistic: one-third of the foods we eat depend on bee pollination. Yes, you heard that right! One-third! We would not be able to eat the foods we rely on daily if not for bees. Moreover, we would not be able to eat the same quality of food without our friends, the bees. Farmers not only use bees to increase yields, but to improve the quality of food as well.
Secondly, bees produce delicious honey and who doesn’t love honey? According to our favorite chubby yellow bear, Winnie the Pooh, “….the only reason for being a bee is to make honey. And the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.” Honey feeds people as well as other animals, like bears (Winnie), birds, bats, and raccoons. Furthermore, honey is not the only edible substance bees produce; bee larva is nutritious too because of its high protein and energy content. Hopefully by now, you realize how important bees are to ecosystems. Thus, what can we do to protect and promote pollinators?
Some hospitals around the country have already taken major steps to help our favorite pollinators. Valley Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, installed rooftop hives for honey bees. You might be thinking, “Beekeeping at hospitals?” As Shelly Stein warns, “I can see the headlines now: Swarm of Bees Attack Children at Local Hospital.” Have no fear! The hives- which contain 20,000 bees between the two colonies- is located a mile away from the main campus of the hospital. Regardless, honey bees are docile insects, rarely known to sting. An extension of the hospital’s “Go Green” efforts, the honey produced from the bee hives is offered to hospital employees, sold in the gift shop, and used in the cafeteria. The goal of the hives is to back locally grown-food that is organic and pesticide-free, as well as to support humane agricultural systems.
All in all, bees should be seen as saviors, not nuisances. Hospitals, such as the one in New Jersey, have already recognized their importance by taking significant steps to support our bees. Take their lead! Grow a variety of flowers, avoid hybrid flowers, eliminate pesticides, create salt licks, and heck, pick up bee keeping if you are so inclined. So, next time you see a bee, don’t swat at it, but instead, thank it for all it does for us and the world.