The Role of the Bees in the World

    Bees play an extremely important role in food production as they pollinate crops. Pollination is a key process in the reproductive cycle of many plants, because it allows pollen grains to be transferred from the male part of the flower (stamens) to the female part (pistils) where fertilization occurs, resulting in fruits and seeds. Bees, along with other pollinators, are responsible for this important task.

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Table of Contents

• Crops that benefit from bee pollination
• Factors that negatively affect the subsistence of bees
• Bees and their importance in food production
• Bee protection measures in some countries

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Crops that benefit from bee pollination

    In the United States, the crops that benefit from bee pollination are:

• Fruits: crops such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines 
• Vegetables: Some vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
• Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, and other fruit trees also need pollination to produce nuts and other nuts.
• Legumes: Crops such as soybeans and red clover are also pollinated by bees.
• Berries: Berry crops such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.
• Oilseed crops: Plants such as sunflower and canola, which are used to produce vegetable oils.
• Herbs and Herbs: Herbs such as cilantro, dill, and basil, as well as herbs such as fennel, require pollination to produce seeds. 
• Greenhouse crops like tomatoes and peppers use native bees.   
• Field crops, such as cotton, also benefit from bee pollination.

    Pollination by honey bees, which produce honey, is not only significantly important in contributing to food security, but also in the preservation of ecosystems; Therefore, protecting populations of bees and other pollinators is essential so that man has the same or greater life expectancy in the future.  

Factors that negatively affect the subsistence of bees

    There are many factors that negatively affect the growth of bee populations, such as: habitat loss, diseases and parasites, climate change, intensive agriculture, air and water pollution, changes in bee diet, transportation stress. of hives and the intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, which reduce the variety of foods available to bees and increase their exposure to harmful chemicals. Neonicotinoids are a class of pesticides that are linked to the death of bees and are about a thousand times more toxic than DDT. These neurotoxic pesticides attack the bees' brains, causing them to have difficulty sleeping, foraging, flying, and even finding their way home.

  These factors generally do not appear alone and consequently the degree of vulnerability of bees increases significantly due to the action of a mixture of them; In such a way that the implementation of measures to address these problems and protect bees and other pollinators has become essential. 

Bees and their importance in food production

    According to experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), one third of global food production depends on bees. The magnitude of this figure and in correspondence with research and experiences, both public and non-governmental, in different countries around the world, have led to the implementation of a series of measures and/or programs to protect bees as well as other pollinators:

Bee protection measures in some countries

• Germany: Has been working on bee protection for many years. In 1989, it established a pollinator protection program, and has since taken steps to reduce the use of pesticides harmful to bees and encourage sustainable agriculture.
• France: In 2018, France banned the use of neonicotinoids.
• United States: At the federal level, programs and regulations have been implemented to protect bees, such as the Pollinator Protection Act, which was enacted in 2018; Likewise, ten states have taken measures to limit the use and sale of neonicotinoids to protect bees: Connecticut (2016), Maryland (2016), Vermont (2019), Maine (2021), Massachusetts (2021), New Jersey ( 2022), New York (2022, 2023), Rhode Island (2022), Colorado (2023) and California (2023)
• Canada: Has taken steps to restrict the use of certain neonicotinoid pesticides. Several Canadian provinces have also implemented additional regulations.
• United Kingdom: implementation of programs for the protection of pollinators.

    These are just a few examples, and many other countries have also taken measures to protect bees. Concern about declining populations of bees and other pollinators has led to growing global awareness of the need to protect them and to maximize efforts to address this problem through regulations, awareness and conservation programs, such that safety food is not compromised.

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