Bees are very important to mankind. Their greatest importance is not to produce honey and other food.
It is the contribution they make to plants all over the world by pollination. Thus they generate a huge natural chain of flora on which life on the planet depends a lot.
They play a fundamental role in biodiversity. Global agriculture depends on 70% of this work. Its importance is such that 70 out of 100 products consumed depend on its intervention.
Besides producing honey and other products (royal jelly, propolis, wax, etc.) bees are also important for the pollination of plants, since they transfer the pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of a flower of the same species, something that is necessary for the reproduction of many plants.
In Ananda Valley, we know the importance of bees and we are doing our part, taking care of the environment.
“Here, to take care of the bees, we always leave honey in the hive because it is their food in winter. And we also monitor the pests, which almost all bees in the world have today, the varroa. It is a mite that lodges at the top the head of the bees, which weakens their health. Generally speaking, we have bees because they are very good to have in the environment. One of the reasons is that they pollinate different plants, and help us to have more and better fruit”, says Alexandre Ferreira, general coordinator of the farm.
Last week, Aline and Marcelo, who live on the farm, took care of the bee boxes and could see how they are.
The bees living in the hives are divided into three castes: queen, workers and drones….
The workers do all the work for the maintenance of the hive, from cleaning to defending the hive. They clean the alveoli of the hive and the newly hatched bees, collect nectar and pollen from the flowers, take care of feeding the larvae, produce wax to produce the combs, make honey by dehydrating the nectar, produce royal jelly, defend the hive from enemies.
It is incredible the cooperation that happens between them.
We have a lot to learn from these beings. And a lot to do for the environment, so that they survive.
by Silvia Satyavati
