Today, 20 May, is World Bee Day. A date to stop and reflect on these small beings that sustain a great part of life on the planet.
A fact that changes everything
Did you know that 1 in every 3 foods consumed exists thanks to pollinators? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes… a huge part of the human diet depends directly on the silent work of pollinators like bees.
Not all bees live in a hive
When we think of bees, we picture the classic Apis mellifera, the hive bee and honey producer. But the world of bees is far more diverse.
The Osmia cornuta, for example, is a solitary bee: it does not live in a colony, does not produce honey and builds its own nest in a completely independent way. Solitary bees tend to be particularly effective pollinators, precisely because they visit flowers in a different way.
Colony bees communicate through a dance that tells their companions the exact distance and direction of the flowers. A sophisticated navigation system, without words. The behaviour was studied and described under the name of Waggle dance by Austrian ethologist Karl von Frisch, a work so significant that it earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973.
Marimurtra honey
Making honey is a long and demanding process. Bees visit millions of flowers, collect the nectar and transform it inside the hive until the final product is obtained. All of this work is reflected in every jar.
The beekeepers at Mels del Montnegre are responsible for managing the Marimurtra hives, where thousands of bees produce honey from flowers from all over the world. Marimurtra honey carries the Girona Excel·lent quality seal, a recognition of its origin and the care with which it is produced.
A real threat
Bees are in danger. Habitat loss, pesticides and climate change have alarmingly reduced their populations worldwide. According to the IUCN Red List, Apis mellifera is already classified as an endangered species (EN) in the European Union.
What can be done
There are concrete actions within everyone’s reach:
Spread the word: awareness is the first step towards change.
Plant native flowers on the balcony or in the garden: lavender, rosemary, thyme, daisies.
Avoid pesticides in your own spaces.
Buy local, quality honey, supporting responsible beekeepers.
Do not destroy nests of solitary bees (often discreet holes in walls or the ground).
