nPosted on May 20, 2020
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Key points
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nThere’s a lot of love going out to bees these days. Have you noticed?
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Bees have been dying, and species of bees are endangered (and in some cases extinct). There’s a weird colony collapse disorder – most of the worker bees in a honey bee colony suddenly disappearing – and there are so-called murder hornets, which attack and feed on bees. Sometimes so-called killer bees invade an area – and when that happens, loads of people end up wiping out all bees out of fear.
Bees have been dying, and species of bees are endangered (and in some cases extinct). There’s a weird colony collapse disorder – most of the worker bees in a honey bee colony suddenly disappearing – and there are so-called murder hornets, which attack and feed on bees. Sometimes so-called killer bees invade an area – and when that happens, loads of people end up wiping out all bees out of fear. n
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nAll of that is dramatic and bad enough, but there are also huge problems with honey bees’ habitats being paved over or built on, and climate change is of course giving bee species and other species problems.
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But we all depend on the survival of bees. So much of our food depends on honey bees! Of course there is the honey itself, but many of the fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts we eat are pollinated by bees!
But we all depend on the survival of bees. So much of our food depends on honey bees! Of course there is the honey itself, but many of the fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts we eat are pollinated by bees! n
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nAlso, many plants in wild habitats also depend on bees to pollinate their flowers, grow their seeds, and start a new generation of plants. If bees suddenly disappeared, we would soon see plants dying, and the animals that depended on those plants would also die – and poof! Our biodiversity would soon be a lot less. We depend on biodiversity for medicines and also for healthy and constantly-adapting ecosystems.
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nBees are not the only pollinators; hummingbirds, bats, and butterflies are other examples of animals that pollinate plants. About 90% of all wild plants depend on animal pollination, and about 75% of the world’s food crops do, too!
Yi-ikes!
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nHere is the U.N. website about World Bee Day. Hopefully you can dedicate some money or time to helping bees and thereby helping all of us!
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nAlso on this date:
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Editor and Icelandic patriot Bergur Sigurbjörnsson’s birthday
Editor and Icelandic patriot Bergur Sigurbjörnsson’s birthday n
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nWeights and Measures Day
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nEliza Doolittle Day
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nFlying Firsts Day
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nIndependence Day in East Timor
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nCameroon’s National Day
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nBirthday of actor / singer Cher
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nEmancipation Day in Florida
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nTurn Beauty Inside Out Day
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n(Third Wednesday of May)
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nPlan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nMay holidays
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nMay birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in May
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJune holidays
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nJune birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in June
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