What’s the buzz on World Bee Day?

The annual day celebrated across the globe is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and acknowledge their role in our ecosystem.

Janice van Eck helps raise awareness on bees and educates residents on bee behaviour.

BEES are some of the hardest-working creatures on the planet, and because of their impeccable work ethic, we owe many thanks to this amazing yet often under-appreciated insect. One person who can attest to this is local resident Janice van Eck.

The Durban North resident, who is a member of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Bee Farmers’ Association, will celebrate World Bee Day on Saturday, May 20.

The purpose of the annual day is to raise awareness of the importance of bees and acknowledge their role in our ecosystem.

The winged insects play an important role as pollinators, and many plants depend on them for pollination.

“Bees are responsible for pollinating about one-sixth of the flowering-plant species worldwide, and to say we rely on the pollination efforts of bees to sustain our food system is an understatement. My aim is to spread the word about beekeeping and help people better understand the insects. Conserving bee swarms and bee safety are some of our main goals, which are under threat by man,” she explained.

Janice van Eck produces and sells her own honey.

Did you know? Five interesting facts about honey and bees

The honey bee has five eyes.
Honey can be fermented to make a type of wine known as ‘mead’.
Bees communicate flower location using special dances known as the waggle dance and the circle dance.
Male bees don’t have stingers; only female bees can sting.
In Egypt, bees were associated with royalty, and the symbol of the King of Lower Egypt was a bee.