Fun Bee Facts for World Bee Day
Happy World Bee Day to all of our bee guardians and enthusiasts! We can’t think of a better day to bee buzzin’ about! World Bee Day aims to raise awareness on the importance of pollinators and the threats they are facing now more than ever.
May 20th is granted this title in celebration of Anton Jansa’s birthday who pioneered modern beekeeping techniques in the 18th century. Among these included a new bee box design so that hives could be stacked and moved more easily. Jansa was not only a revolutionary apiculturist, his artistic talent allowed him to blend these passions to create paintings of the beehive panels and popularize this method of beekeeping. He also wrote two important books on apiculture and was among the first to define the roles of drones and the queen bee in the hive. From traveling throughout the Habsburg Empire and sharing his knowledge, to being named the official apiculture teacher at the Habsburg court in Vienna, the Beekeepers Association of Slovenia helped to honor Jansa’s legacy by sharing his accomplishments with the United Nations. Inspired, they instituted his birthday as World Bee Day.
Now for seven awe-inspiring fun facts about bees to celebrate today:
One ounce of honey can fuel a bee’s flight around the world!
Bees are very tidy and love to groom their hive mates and keep their hive nice and clean.
The hexagonal shape of the honeycomb is the most efficient shape in our world and allows for the cells to hold a ton of weight with no empty space!
The queen bee is fed “royal jelly,” an extra nutritious mixture of pollen and honey, which makes her the biggest in the hive and allows her to reproduce.
Honey bees are responsible for around 80% of crop pollination in the United States.
Honey bees have been around longer than humans - with fossil evidence dating back to 150 million years ago!
The flavor, color and texture of honey depends on the type of flower the bee collected the nectar from.
We are so thankful for all those who continue to advocate for the bees and are dedicated to their survival! We hope you feel inspired by Jansa’s story and reach out to your local beekeepers or nature and conservation centers to find out what World Bee Day events are happening near you! Share this post with all of the bee-lievers in your life!
Some information sourced from: https://www.beeourguest.eu/anton-jansa/