World Bee Day | May 20, 2025
It is easy to overlook the tiny creatures buzzing around our flowers or floating between blades of grass. But on May 20—World Bee Day—we pause to acknowledge one of nature’s most important, and most underappreciated, heroes: the bee. Bees are more than just summer companions or garden guests; they are central to the health of ecosystems, agriculture, biodiversity, and even human survival. Without bees, the world would be unrecognizably different—and not in a good way.
Why May 20?
World Bee Day was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2017 and is celebrated each year on May 20, the birthday of Anton Janša, a Slovenian pioneer of modern beekeeping. Janša was among the first to understand and promote the vital role of bees in agriculture. The purpose of this global day is to raise awareness about the threats facing pollinators and to celebrate their contributions to sustainable development, food security, and biodiversity.
Why Bees Matter
Bees are pollinators. That may sound simple, but their job in nature is anything but. About 75% of the world’s flowering plants and around 35% of global food crops depend on pollinators to reproduce (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2024). Bees, especially honeybees and wild species like bumblebees and solitary bees, transfer pollen from flower to flower, enabling fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts to grow.
Without bees, our diets would shrink dramatically. Apples, almonds, avocados, blueberries, cherries, cucumbers, pumpkins, and even coffee rely heavily on bee pollination. Losing bees would mean more than fewer choices at the grocery store—it would mean increased food prices, nutritional deficits, and deep agricultural instability.
Bees are also crucial to wild ecosystems. Countless plants depend on bee pollination to reproduce, and those plants, in turn, support wildlife by providing food, shelter, and habitats. When bee populations decline, entire ecosystems begin to unravel. In other words, bees are foundational players in the web of life.
The Silent Crisis: Bee Decline
Despite their importance, bees are in serious trouble. Scientists have been sounding the alarm for years about alarming drops in bee populations across the globe. Habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, disease, and monoculture farming are just a few of the threats bees face daily.
In North America alone, some species of bumblebees have declined by as much as 90% in the past two decades. Globally, about one in six bee species is regionally extinct (Zattara & Aizen, 2021). Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon where entire colonies of honeybees disappear without warning, brought the issue to the public’s attention in the mid-2000s, but the problem has persisted—and grown—since then.
Imagining a World Without Bees
A world without bees is not just a dystopian thought experiment—it is a glimpse into a deeply broken planet. Imagine walking into a grocery store with no apples, strawberries, or watermelon. Your salad? Gone. Almond milk? Out of stock. Even beef and dairy could be affected due to cattle feed shortages caused by a lack of pollinated crops like alfalfa and clover.
Beyond the supermarket, a bee-less world would mean reduced biodiversity, with cascading effects across the animal kingdom. Entire plant and insect species would vanish. Bird and mammal populations that rely on those plants would suffer. Even the air we breathe could be affected, as fewer plants mean less oxygen production.
Economically, the loss would be devastating. Pollinators contribute over $235 billion to $577 billion annually to global food production (FAO, 2023). Farmers, grocers, food companies, and entire economies would be impacted. Jobs would disappear. Rural communities would be hit especially hard.
And that is only part of the story.
Indigenous Wisdom and Ancient Bonds
Bees are not just ecological workhorses—they are sacred to many cultures. Ancient Egyptians associated bees with royalty and divine order. Indigenous communities across the Americas have long understood the symbiotic relationship between humans and pollinators, protecting bee habitats through traditional ecological knowledge. In Mayan tradition, the stingless bee, Melipona beecheii, is considered sacred and is still cultivated for its honey and medicinal properties.
Reverence for bees is not merely poetic; it is practical. These ancient relationships offer us modern clues on how to coexist sustainably. Where industrial agriculture has failed bees, Indigenous knowledge offers pathways to restoration—by prioritizing biodiversity, respecting natural rhythms, and rejecting chemical overuse.
What Can You Do?
Saving the bees may seem like a massive undertaking, but change begins at the local level. Here are a few ways you can make a meaningful difference:
- Plant Native Flowers: Bees thrive on a diversity of local, pesticide-free plants. Choose native wildflowers, herbs, and flowering shrubs to create a pollinator-friendly garden or balcony space.
- Avoid Pesticides: Chemicals like neonicotinoids are especially harmful to bees. Opt for natural pest control alternatives and organic products whenever possible.
- Support Local Beekeepers: Buy local honey and hive products. Supporting ethical beekeeping strengthens regional ecosystems and helps maintain healthy bee populations.
- Educate Others: Share information about bee conservation with friends, family, and community members. Host events, give classroom presentations, or support legislation that protects pollinators.
- Advocate for Policy Change: Encourage lawmakers to support sustainable agriculture, fund pollinator research, and ban harmful pesticides.
- Leave the Weeds: Dandelions and clover, often seen as lawn nuisances, are critical food sources for bees in early spring. Let them bloom.
A Buzz Worth Protecting
Bees may be small, but their importance is enormous. As we honor World Bee Day, we must resist the temptation to romanticize bees without acting to protect them. Their decline is not inevitable—it is a choice we make collectively through our agricultural practices, urban planning, and environmental policies.
The buzzing in the garden is not just background noise; it is the sound of life in motion. A world without bees is not just a quieter world—it is a hungrier, lonelier, more fragile one.
So today, as you sip your coffee (thank a bee) or bite into an apple (thank a bee again), consider what the world would look like without these tireless pollinators. And then, do one thing—just one—to protect them. Because every action matters. Every flower planted, every chemical avoided, every policy supported, and every voice raised on behalf of the bees is a step toward a more resilient and sustainable planet.
After all, we are not just saving bees. We are saving ourselves.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2023). The importance of pollinators for food security and biodiversity. https://www.fao.org
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2024). Pollination and pollinators. https://www.fao.org/pollination
Zattara, E. E., & Aizen, M. A. (2021). Worldwide occurrence records suggest a global decline in bee species richness. One Earth, 4(1), 114–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.12.005
