Sunday, 20 May 2018 marks the first ever World Bee Day, the Malta Beekeepers Association has said, declared as such by the United Nations to draw global public attention to the importance of preserving bees and other pollinators.
“There’s never been a time when the pollinating power of the lowly honey bee has been more important to the planet than now. One in every three bites of food that humans consume depends on pollination performed by the honey bees, yet in the past 50 years, a worrying decline in wild and honey bee populations has been noted. This is due to environmental threats. Their habitat is shrinking and the conditions for their survival and development are steadily worsening. There are fewer and fewer nectar-bearing areas due to increasing monocultures and urbanisation of green areas. The use of certain pesticides is also making the situation worst. Due to this, we are witnessing poorer development of bee colonies.”
“there are also new bee diseases and pests, resulting from the reduced resistance of bee colonies’ and from globalisation, which supports the transmission of pests over long distances.”
“The endemic honeybee of the Maltese Islands (Apis melifera rutneri) is facing a serious threat of extinction due to the high amount of foreign bees being imported. This situation is diluting the genetic purity of the endemic bee. If the authorities fail to act soon, to save guard the Maltese endemic bee which is found nowhere else in the world, we will soon lose the Maltese bee. Malta has already lost a number of endemic farm crops and farm animals such as the Maltese sheep, the Maltese cotton and Maltese strawberries. We sincerely hope that the Maltese bee will not be next.”