Buzzing, buzzing, buzzing… the bees buzzed around. But how much longer if we don’t intervene quickly? Today, May 20th, is World Bee Day. So we want to remember what we owe to furry pets. Because we must be aware of one thing… a world without bees is unthinkable.
WIESELBURG/NE. Sepp Niklas, President of the Beekeepers Association of Lower Austria, answers questions about “bees”:
Why is World Bee Day important?
World Bee Day is important to show that our bees are in trouble. On the one hand by changing habitats, on the other hand by bee parasites such as the varroa mite, the hive beetle and recently also by a species of wasp from Southeast Asia. Bees depend on us beekeepers.
What do you – Lower Austrian beekeepers – do to preserve the animals?
The Lower Austrian Beekeepers Association tries to prepare beekeepers for the needs of bees through very efficient training programs, in order to be able to combat the mentioned problems as quickly as possible.
What kind of rethinking should occur – not just in agriculture?
Bees need diversity, so in recent years farmers have planted strips of flowers along the fields to increase biodiversity. Lawns have also turned into flowering areas in many communities and municipalities.
Even in private gardens, not everything has to be just grass, flower arrangements, flowering hedges or certain areas of the garden can serve as shelter and food for insects.
What can – that is, you and I – contribute to the preservation of bees?
If you also want to contribute to the preservation of our bees, just buy honey and regional bee products. This is very easy to recognize if you look at the Austria origin label.
Nothing better than a honey bread…
In addition to the important pollination service provided by our bees, beekeepers in Lower Austria guarantee the best quality honey through their careful work in a hygienic environment, often also in ecological production. Many awards also prove this, such as the Wieselburg Golden Honeycomb in gold, silver and bronze.
Lower Austrian Beekeepers Association cares for about 5,000 members who are organized into 20 district organizations and 166 local groups. In total, our beekeepers in Lower Austria look after around 40,000 bee colonies. With their diligence and daily work, they make a not insignificant contribution to the national economy. The value of the pollination activity of bees alone has been calculated by experts to be 10 times the value of the honey harvest. For Lower Austria, this means an amount of €6.6 million for an average harvest of 660,000 kg.
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