Bees are of immense importance to us because they pollinate agricultural plants. Their global economic benefit is calculated at €265 billion (as of 2015) – something that we don’t usually hear about. Bees make delicious honey. But that’s not all: many people don’t realise just how important bees are for our society. As pollinator insects, they also
make a particularly important contribution to our ecosystem. Bees are a miracle of evolution and indispensable for both humans and animals. The bee is our main pollinator of flowering plants. Around two thirds of food is directly or indirectly dependent on plant pollination by bees and would otherwise not be available at all or only in low quantities and of poor quality.
But bees are threatened with extinction. To save the bee and promote bee populations, the BEE GOOD PROJECT campaigns for expanding habitats for bees, certifies bee friendly farmers and promotes bee health.
BEE GOOD
Support pollinators with creation of new organic bee meadows by buying seeds.
Albert Einstein
Physicist and Nobel Prize winner
This unique award is presented each year by WE FOR EARTH in cooperation with the BEESANDAPPLE project. It goes to well known people who campaign for and are
deeply committed to a healthier, fairer and more sustainable world making them ambassadors for bees.
The first award winners are Sting and Trudie for their many decades’ focus on hosting and protecting bee colonies. They are very much seen as role models for their generation and generations to come, as demonstrated especially by their own environment-conscious farming practices.
This outstanding project is powered furthermore by Othmar Karas (vice president of the European Parliament), Dominic Thiem (tennis pro, currently ranked No. 4 in the world), Sebastian Vettel (four times F1 world champion) and many more.
The BEE GOOD AWARD is an essential part of the biggest social project for bees in Europe, which aims at developing new habitats to accommodate up to 1 billion bees within the next few years.
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Dear WE FOR EARTH and BEE GOOD,
With great pleasure we accept the Bee Good Award, because we know how important bees are for biodiversity. Thank you for your trust in Il Palagio’s wines as well in our honeys and olive oil products. We have kept many colonies of bees both in England and Italy over the last three decades, and plant a rich diversity of flowers, plants and trees on our land to help them thrive. Bees play an integral role in continuing life on earth and we can all help to support their survival.
Trudie & Sting
Development of new habitat to accommodate up to 1 billion bees
By the community for the community
Involving all parts of society
Contribution to our ecosystem with an creation of more than 120 ha of space
• During the summer months, a beehive holds up to 40,000 bees. (In winter, a bee colony consists of about 10,000 bees.)
• For a jar of honey (500 g), a bee must fly out 40,000 times.
• The total distance it covers in these trips is 120,000 km. Bees fly at 20 to 30 km/h.
• Its nectar collecting radius is 2 to 6 km around the hive.
• With dances, they communicate favourable collection places to the hive.
• 3.4 billion bee flight kilometres have been completed for this. That’s 85,000 times around the Earth.
• 80% of our food depends on bee pollination.
BEES ARE SIMPLY AMAZING.
HONEY BEE HEALTH
So much of our agricultural productivity is dependent on the European honey bee (Apris mellifera) that it is no wonder that our attention is drawn to their plight. When the honey bee suffers, so does agriculture, and so, potentially do all who depend on the bounty that comes from animal pollinated angiosperms, the flowering plants from which we derive many of our most delicious and health-giving fruits and vegetables.
While honey bees are clearly not the only hard working pollinators that deliver a bounty to humans and other animals, their recent deaths from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) starting in 2006 have captured the world’s attention. To date, CCD has been defined as a series of symptoms, but the cause and the cure have remained complex and elusive. CCD is not the only problem facing honey bees; in fact, in 2010 the overwintering losses were at the same unsustainable rates of over 30% but the cause seemed to be less from CCD than from other problems. Below is a list of the variety of issues facing honey bees.
HONEY BEE HEALTH
So much of our agricultural productivity is dependent on the European honey bee (Apris mellifera) that it is no wonder that our attention is drawn to their plight. When the honey bee suffers, so does agriculture, and so, potentially do all who depend on the bounty that comes from animal pollinated angiosperms, the flowering plants from which we derive many of our most delicious and health-giving fruits and vegetables.
While honey bees are clearly not the only hard working pollinators that deliver a bounty to humans and other animals, their recent deaths from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) starting in 2006 have captured the world’s attention. To date, CCD has been defined as a series of symptoms, but the cause and the cure have remained complex and elusive. CCD is not the only problem facing honey bees; in fact, in 2010 the overwintering losses were at the same unsustainable rates of over 30% but the cause seemed to be less from CCD than from other problems. Below is a list of the variety of issues facing honey bees.
The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor)
Is an external parasite that has spread from its original host, the Asian honey bee Apis cerana, to nearly all Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) worldwide. Virtually all European honey bees are highly vulnerable to Varroa mites, although some honey bee strains (VSH, Russians) show partial resistance to the mites. This mite weakens honey bees by sucking hemolymph (“blood”) from its host and by transmitting bee pathogens. A female mite reproduces by invading the cell of a bee larva just before capping. Once inside, the female lays eggs to produce offspring that feed together on the developing bee. The mother mite and her adult daughters emerge from the cell with the young adult bee host. Eventually, at high infestation rates, the mites overwhelm and kill the host colony. Beekeepers control Varroa mite populations by monitoring mite infestation rates and applying chemical treatments when mite populations become too large. Due to increased concerns over the effects of miticides on bees and mite resistance to commercial miticides, researchers are developing alternative approaches (“softer” chemical treatments, the genetics of mite resistance in honey bees, mite pheromones and hormones, and physical treatments) to control this mite.
Nosema ceranae
This microscopic fungus can weaken or even kill colonies when the majority of workers become infected. Spores of the fungus survive on wax combs and stored food inside colonies. When workers eat these spores the fungus invades the lining of the intestine. Highly infected bees cannot digest efficiently and die earlier. Beekeepers use antibiotics and disinfection of hives to control this disease.
Proper management of honey bee colonies is a critical component of their health and productivity. Many of the stressors listed on this page can be mitigated by using the proper techniques. Beekeepers need to place their colonies is appropriate locations, which allow access to adequate foraging sites and are distant from areas where pesticides are being applied (honey bees can forage up to 5 km away from their colonies). Beekeepers can provide supplementary nutrition, in the form of sucrose solution or protein patties, during periods of low nectar flow. Beekeepers can monitor for pests, such as Varroa mites and Nosema microporidia, and use chemical or non-chemical methods to control these as needed. Beekeepers can minimize exposure to pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, by systematically replacing used brood comb with fresh comb. Using genetic stocks of bees that more resistant to pests and pathogens is also an excellent way to reduce complications from these two stressors. Finally, rapid supercedure of poor quality queen honey bees can lead to colony losses, and thus purchases queens from excellent sources or rearing queens locally can improve colony productivity and health. For more information, please see the Honey Bee Best Management Practices guide that has been developed by the WE FOR EARTH – BEE GOOD PROGRAM.
Our Master Beekeepers recommend the following:.
We for Earth
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