Be kind to bees
A Namibian beekeeper is urging Namibians to qualify as beekeepers and to support Namibian honey production while also advocating for stringent fines to deter the harming or killing of bees or their hives.
On the occasion of World Bee Day, celebrated annually on 20 May, Namibian beekeeper Roland Graf zu Bentheim highlighted that Namibia imports 99% of honey but could instead nurture a buzzing local economy.
Zu Bentheim believes Namibia could produce 90% of the honey it currently imports from South Africa (95%) and Germany (4%).
Yet there are only 500 beekeepers in the country, most on a small scale. Only 10 beekeepers produce honey on a commercial basis.
“Namibia can be turned into bee-land. But we urgently need 1 000 professional beekeepers to produce enough bee products and to create awareness of bees in the country.”
In light of the severe threats faced by bee populations around the world, zu Bentheim this month proposed a N$50 000 fine for harming bees or their hives.
Bees are a crucial pollinator species that plays a significant ecological role and contributes to the preservation of wild and cultivated crops.
Zu Bentheim warned that although Namibia's wild honeybee population (Api mellifera Scuttelata) is still thriving, the country must not rest on its laurels and urgently needs to boost local beekeepers and spread awareness and knowledge in schools and elsewhere.
“Every person is called on to do something for our bees. Namibia is praised for other conservation and environmental efforts, but for the bees we do nothing,” he said.
Danger
According to the Honeybee Health Coalition approximately one in three bites of the food we eat every day relies on honeybee pollination services to some degree. A loss of biodiversity can have serious implications throughout the agricultural ecosystem.
“It is estimated that without insect pollination, about one third of the crops we eat would have to be pollinated by other means, or they would produce significantly less food. Up to 75% of our crops would suffer some decrease in productivity,” the organisation says.
In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 20 May as World Bee Day in order to create awareness of the dramatic decline bee populations face around the world.
The resolution was made in the wake of a 2016 global assessment of pollinators, the first of its kind, which warned that a growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made.
The extinction of these pollinators, including bees, threatens “millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators”, the report stated.
JANA-MARI SMITH
On the occasion of World Bee Day, celebrated annually on 20 May, Namibian beekeeper Roland Graf zu Bentheim highlighted that Namibia imports 99% of honey but could instead nurture a buzzing local economy.
Zu Bentheim believes Namibia could produce 90% of the honey it currently imports from South Africa (95%) and Germany (4%).
Yet there are only 500 beekeepers in the country, most on a small scale. Only 10 beekeepers produce honey on a commercial basis.
“Namibia can be turned into bee-land. But we urgently need 1 000 professional beekeepers to produce enough bee products and to create awareness of bees in the country.”
In light of the severe threats faced by bee populations around the world, zu Bentheim this month proposed a N$50 000 fine for harming bees or their hives.
Bees are a crucial pollinator species that plays a significant ecological role and contributes to the preservation of wild and cultivated crops.
Zu Bentheim warned that although Namibia's wild honeybee population (Api mellifera Scuttelata) is still thriving, the country must not rest on its laurels and urgently needs to boost local beekeepers and spread awareness and knowledge in schools and elsewhere.
“Every person is called on to do something for our bees. Namibia is praised for other conservation and environmental efforts, but for the bees we do nothing,” he said.
Danger
According to the Honeybee Health Coalition approximately one in three bites of the food we eat every day relies on honeybee pollination services to some degree. A loss of biodiversity can have serious implications throughout the agricultural ecosystem.
“It is estimated that without insect pollination, about one third of the crops we eat would have to be pollinated by other means, or they would produce significantly less food. Up to 75% of our crops would suffer some decrease in productivity,” the organisation says.
In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 20 May as World Bee Day in order to create awareness of the dramatic decline bee populations face around the world.
The resolution was made in the wake of a 2016 global assessment of pollinators, the first of its kind, which warned that a growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made.
The extinction of these pollinators, including bees, threatens “millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators”, the report stated.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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