Importance of Keeping Bees

Importance of Keeping Bees – Bees are considered to be among the most hardworking insects in the world. They play a great role in our ecosystem besides pollinating and making honey. There are more than 20,000 known species of bees in 7 recognized families in every continent except Antarctica. Extreme cold climate is the main reason why there are no bees in Antarctica. If we are to understand the importance of keeping bees, we need to educate ourselves and others about bees to protect them and their ecological niches.

There is a famous quote from Albert Einstein which states that, ‘if bees disappeared from the face of earth, man would only have to live for 4 years’. This might be true because all bees are pollinators of crops. In fact, about 84% of crops grown for human consumption rely on bees and a few other insects to pollinate them.

Pollination of crops increases yields and quality through cross pollination which facilitates exchange of genes. When plants from the same species are cross pollinated, they mix traits bringing about variations which help in better sustainability and viability of the species.

Bees are also known to make honey which has numerous benefits to man. Honey is mainly made from nectar collected from different species of plants. People have started keeping bees in beehives (apiculture), providing them with water and planting flowers around the hives to determine the type of nectar these bees collect to make their honey.

There are a lot of benefits when you take up beekeeping as a hobby and/or business. Here’s some of them:

– They Produce Honey
This is one of the most common reasons why people want to take up beekeeping. Raising bees for honey means that you get to have fresh honey ready at your back yard – one which you’re sure that’s organic and free of artificial flavoring. Each bee can produce up to half a teaspoon of honey; imagine how much honey a colony with thousands of bees can produce.

– Healthier Crops
Plants mostly rely on bees to propagate. The bees are an excellent plant pollinator. A lot of people has expressed that raising bees has made their landscapes healthier and they noticed that their plants and trees were producing bigger fruits.

– Wax
Bees also produce wax which they make into wax comb. There are a lot of uses for wax including cosmetics and creams.

This has been a source of income to a lot of people who have kept bees specifically to produce honey. Honey is in high demand nowadays due to its numerous benefits making bee keeping a reliable source of income. – Importance of Keeping Bees