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The Secret Life of Urban Bees: How They Help Our Cities
The Secret Life of Urban Bees: How They Help Our CitiesEel under rock - March 25, 2023
As urbanization continues to expand, the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions becomes increasingly crucial.
Among the many ecological champions of our cities, one buzzing hero stands out: the urban bee.
The buzzing world of urban bees is often overlooked, as these tiny insects play a crucial role in keeping the ecosystems of our cities healthy. By pollinating plants, supporting biodiversity and producing honey, urban bees contribute significantly to the well-being of our urban environments. In this article, we'll explore the fascinating lives of these city bees, the challenges they face, and how they help green our cities.
The importance of urban bees
Urban bees are essential pollinators for city gardens, parks and green spaces. They help plants reproduce by transferring pollen from one flower to another, thus ensuring the survival and propagation of various plant species. This is not only vital for biodiversity, but also for urban agriculture, as bees play an essential role in the pollination of fruits, vegetables and other crops. Additionally, urban bees produce honey, a valuable commodity that can be harvested and enjoyed by city dwellers.
The importance of urban bees goes far beyond what one might think at first glance. As primary pollinators in urban environments, these small insects have a profound impact on urban gardens, parks and green spaces. They facilitate plant reproduction by transferring pollen from one flower to another, thus ensuring the survival and propagation of a wide range of plant species. This not only promotes biodiversity in urban areas, but also urban agriculture, as bees play a vital role in pollinating fruits, vegetables and other essential crops.
Furthermore, the presence of urban bees contributes to the overall health of urban ecosystems by supporting a complex web of life. By pollinating flowers, bees help create habitats and food sources for other insects, birds and small mammals, which helps maintain a rich wildlife community in urban settings. Additionally, urban bees produce honey, a valuable commodity that can be harvested and enjoyed by city dwellers. This locally sourced, sustainable product can foster a sense of community and connection to nature, even within the confines of a bustling urban landscape.
The importance of urban bees cannot be overstated. They are essential for maintaining biodiversity, supporting urban agriculture, improving the health of ecosystems and providing a sustainable source of honey for city dwellers.
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“Too many beehives in town”. When Helping Bees Disappoints Them
“Too many beehives in town”. When Helping Bees Disappoints ThemMr Globalization - Feb 01, 2023
Bees in town? We see this phenomenon developing more and more in urban areas and, above all, in companies. But if the insertion of hives in the city started from an ecological intention aiming to protect pollinating insects, it is today very contested.
“If the bee were to disappear from the surface of the globe, man would only have 5 years to live”. This quote from Albert Einstein takes on its full meaning in the current environmental context. It also alerts to the importance of these insignificant insects for many of us, but ultimately vital to the survival of human and non-human species, as well as their ecosystems. How can such small living beings be of such magnitude in the face of the climate crisis we are going through?
Bees are our allies
Pollinators contribute directly to food security, the UN reminds us via its program for the environment. If this category includes animals such as monkeys, birds or rodents, it is especially known for insects.
According to beekeeping experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: 75% of global food production depends on pollinating insects. Although the wind promotes pollination, between 60% and 90% of wild plants require the help of pollinating insects, such as bees, in order to reproduce. And to speak the economic language of our current models, according to the NGO Greenpeace, pollination represents 265 billion dollars of service rendered in the world.
In fact, the global production of honey per year amounts to around 1,6 million tonnes, with around 81 million active hives around the globe (May 2019 report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES)).
If these figures are impressive by their scale, they are partly explained by a historical phenomenon of the insertion of bees. The latter, contrary to what one thinks, does not date from yesterday, because in the Middle Ages, already, the human exploited the hives in town. In recent decades, particularly due to global warming, many scientists are sounding the alarm on the urgency of conserving biodiversity. It is therefore in an ecological approach that the phenomenon of integration of bees has resumed and is increasing.
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World's oldest bee apiary collapses
Mr Globalization - Jul 19, 2022
Despite being essential for safeguarding and pollinating more than three-quarters of food crops and flowering plants, the collapse of bee populations continues to accelerate throughout the world.
The small Moroccan village of Inzerki is no exception. Home to the oldest collective apiary in the world, the latter has recently experienced an unprecedented collapse of its colonies following the worst drought the country has experienced in the last 40 years. This new ecological disaster is once again a reminder of the urgent need to act immediately to slow down the effects of climate change.
“Many families no longer have the means to continue their beekeeping activities and have decided to abandon beekeeping altogether”
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Agribusiness jeopardizes our food sovereignty
Mr Globalization - Jul 7, 2022
EU member states and lobbies constantly work to weaken European ambitions to reduce pesticides, monocultures and green deserts.
Barely the framework of the new CAP for 2023-2027 approved by the European Parliament in December 2021, the greenest of MEPs and civil society organizations regretted a policy largely below the needs in terms of ecology.
“It is necessary to apply alternatives that [human beings] have actually known for thousands of years. That is, essentially, crop rotation, which consists of growing different plant species together that protect each other. It also means not damaging the natural defenses of predators, but letting them develop, so that this biological cycle, which is in the process of being interrupted, can continue”.
