Fifth World Bee Day Focuses on Youth & Beekeeping

By , 20 May 2022, 11:27 AM Lifestyle
Fifth World Bee Day Focuses on Youth & Beekeeping pixabay.com woodypino CC-by-0

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STA, 20 May 2022 - Young and beekeeping will be in the focus as World Bee Day is celebrated in Slovenia for the fifth year running on Friday after the UN declared it in 2017 on Slovenia's initiative to raise awareness about honeybees and other pollinators for agriculture, food safety and biodiversity.

The topic coincides with the 2022 European Year of Youth, with the Agriculture Ministry noting the role of transfer of know-how for the future of beekeeping.

The Beekeeping Association says it is important to raise awareness about bees being endangered and about what communities and individuals should to do preserve them.

Apimondia vice president Peter Kozmus thus urges planting native honey plants, mowing flowering plants after flowering, buying honey and other bee products from the nearest beekeepers and reducing the use of pesticides that are harmful to bees.

"When we help bees, we help other organisms as well as people," says Kozmus, adding that bees and people need practically the same conditions to thrive: clean air and a healthy environment without pollution.

A number of events will be held to mark World Bee Day, with one of them being an awards ceremony to give out Slovenia's top international award for outstanding achievement in beekeeping; the Golden Bee Prize will be conferred the second time.

Its first recipient - scientist Lucas Alejandro Garibaldi from Argentina, will meanwhile attend the main World Bee Day event, to be held on Saturday in Dolenjske Toplice, south-east, as part of the 19th Beekeeping Festival.

Slovenia is best known for its Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica), but is home to more than 500 species of wild bees.

Statistics show that there were over 11,290 beekeepers in Slovenia in October 2020, who produced some 1,300 tonnes of honey.

World Bee Day is celebrated on 20 May to remember the day in 1734 when Anton Janša, the Slovenian credited with being the pioneer of modern beekeeping, was born.

The Beekeeping Association's head Boštjan Noč is convinced the message of World Bee Day is being successfully spread: "Today, the world talks respectfully of bees, beekeepers and all that goes with them."

This year's main international event marking the day will be the Food and Agriculture Organization's conference Bee Engaged: Celebrating the Diversity of Bees and Beekeeping Systems.

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