As the Neolithic process of settlement of human communities in villages near areas of cultivation or domestication of animals progressed in the Neolithic period, as agricultural work increased and food production improved, the ability to tame bee hives developed and their reproduction was organised, thereby increasing honey consumption and improving the nutrition of villagers and their descendants.
The recognition of the role of bees as pollinators in food production is a recent development that coincides with the conclusions of scientists and technicians around the world regarding the destruction of beehives and the death of bees.
In different research and production centres, warnings have been issued about the destruction of this species. This means a decrease in the pollination capacity of plants and crops, which puts human civilisation and life itself at risk.
The reports are blunt about the loss of ecosystems, the relentless promotion of forest destruction and changes in modes of agricultural production that threaten biodiversity and are manifested in the loss of millions of species of insects and bees.
“Pollination, especially by bees, is a fundamental process for the survival of ecosystems, essential for the production and reproduction of many crops and wild plants. Nearly 90% of flowering plants depend on pollination to reproduce; 75% of the world’s food crops depend to some extent on pollination and 35% of the world’s agricultural land. Pollinators not only contribute directly to food security but are also indispensable for conserving biodiversity. UN, World Bee Day Declaration, 2023.
In addition to the constant calls for the defence and protection of bees, real and immediate solutions must be found to the environmental disaster promoted by the capitalist mode of production.
Specifically, it is necessary to implement public policies for the real protection of bees that involve the populations, and national, regional and local governments, to organise cultural change and direct action to protect these invertebrate animals.
Among these public policies to be implemented are: budgeting and developing education and information campaigns on the serious situation caused by the disappearance of bees, making direct investments to increase the number of hives and apiaries, training new beekeepers, establishing policies for the consumption of honey and by-products of beekeeping production locally, and encouraging research and production of medicinal honey from native bees in tropical areas of the planet.
Celebrating World Bee Day is important, but it is essential to celebrate it with personal and social coherence in protection and to promote imaginative and transformative policies and actions to effectively protect the lives of current and future generations.