Thanks to bees!

Thanksgiving is in a few days! What’s on your menu?

Cranberry sauce? Green bean casserole? And for dessert, apple pie enjoyed with a steamy cup of coffee?

When you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with your loved ones, you'll probably take the time to share all you are grateful for this year. As you find yourself reflecting on how thankful you are for the food on your table, it’s an appropriate time to think about who grew those apples and coffee berries.

Ask your local farmer what they are grateful for this season, and there is a good chance they will mention honeybees!

Over three-quarters of global food crops are dependent on these pollinators to some extent. Without them, we wouldn't have seeds for many of the plants that we rely on for food. That includes cacao, coffee, and cranberries!

While there are so many reasons we can all be thankful for honeybees, we’ve narrowed it down to five:

1. Honeybees perpetuate biodiversity

It is estimated that 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants depend on pollination for reproduction. Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male part of a plant to the female part of a plant.

As one of the most essential processes contributing to biodiversity, pollination enables fertilization and the production of seeds, most often by the wind, an animal, or an insect. Pollination is largely behind the production of a diverse range of plants, including food crops.

During this season of giving thanks, don’t forget the honeybees and all they do as pollinators to help the regeneration of plants, which in turn contributes to perpetuating biodiversity.

2. Bees give us the gift of honey

While honey is a natural sweetener produced by bees, it is so much more than a kitchen staple! Honey possesses antibacterial and antiseptic properties. It can also aid in the proper healing of wounds, burns, bacterial infections, and even pressure ulcers.

With antifungal and antiviral properties, raw honey helps to improve the health of your gut. Raw honey is also naturally high in beneficial enzymes, containing minerals like zinc, magnesium, and potassium.

Since honey contains antioxidants, it makes a remarkable cleanser, moisturizer, and acne treatment. Honey even contains an antioxidant known as pinocembrin, which has been linked to improved brain function.

3. Bees pollinate nutritious food

While potatoes, rice, and wheat don’t require pollination, some of the most nutrient-dense food available to us could not regenerate without honeybees and other pollinators.

Many micronutrient-rich foods, like fruit, some vegetables, nuts, and seeds would fail to exist without pollinators.

No pollinators = No apples, blueberries, cherries, or cocoa, to name a few.

Our diets would be void of blueberries, with their fiber, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and other heart-healthy nutrients. We’d also have to live without cranberries, which prevent certain cancers, improve immune function, and reduce blood pressure.

And our Thanksgiving dinners would be pretty boring too!

4) Buzzing bees deliver beautiful flowers

Are you planning on bringing a bouquet of flowers to the friend or family member who is hosting Thanksgiving this year? It’s definitely a considerate expression of your gratitude for all the cleaning and cooking (and more cleaning) that inevitably goes into hosting the dinner!

You can thank the bees for those flowers. And don’t worry, they don’t require some grand gesture of gratitude!

You could show the honeybees your thanks this Thanksgiving by teaching everyone eating at the kids' table how the bees pollinate nearly 400 different agricultural plant types and approximately one-sixth of the world's flowering species.

5) Honeybees remind us that despite our differences, we all need each other!

Consider the mutualistic relationship between honeybees and flowering plants.

Flowers provide bees with the pollen and nectar that worker bees collect to feed their entire colony. By spreading pollen from flower to flower through pollination, bees provide flowers with the means to reproduce.

Although it’s tempting for us to think of bees as nothing more than honey-makers, the flowers know better! They know that honeybees bring pollen from one flower to another flower of the same species, enabling the plant to form seeds and reproduce. And the flowers are always ready to offer their bee friends the nectar and pollen they feed on.

Without bees, pollination and reproduction would be nearly impossible for some plant species. This makes bees an integral part of every ecosystem they inhabit.

Humans also benefit from the pollination that honeybees provide. Because of the bees, we can enjoy fruit, vegetables, and even chocolate.

This Thanksgiving, gratitude begins with action. At Bee Boys, we maintain regenerative beekeeping practices to show our thanks for the honeybees.

Want to express your gratitude this season? By buying raw honey and other bee-based products directly from local farmers and beekeepers who focus on regenerative principles and honeybee health, you’ll support the relationship between farmers, beekeepers, and the communities they serve!

reference:
https://beeboys.org/f/5-reasons-to-thank-the-bees-this-season