Did you know that 20 May has been designated World Bee Day by by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations?
Here’s a little information from their own website to explain a bit more…
For centuries bees, among the hardest working creatures on the planet, have benefited people, plants and the environment. By carrying pollen from one flower to another, bees and other pollinators enable not only the production of an abundance of fruits, nuts and seeds, but also more variety and better quality, contributing to food security and nutrition.
Pollinators such as bees, birds and bats, affect 35 percent of the world’s crop production, increasing outputs of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide, plus many plant-derived medicines. Three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human use as food depend, at least in part, on pollinators.
Here at St John’s we encourage folks to do all they can to encourage pollinators – including sowing wild flower seeds, which we distribute on Mothering Sunday. The photo at the head of this articles is from George Harris and shows wild flowers that had self-seeded from those planted nearby.
Visit the FAO website to learn more about World Bee Day and the importance of bees and other pollinators