By Jemimah Chungu
Bees are quite important in every aspect of the ecosystem (environmental processes) and to humans too. Honey bee farming generate so much income at individual level, commercial level or national level. Actually honey bee products are generate millions to the agricultural sector of bee keeping for example; approximately 30,000 tons of honey is produced in Australia yearly and is worth around Au’s$90 million while according to USDA reports, 2.67 million honey-producing colonies in 2017 generated 1.47 million pounds of raw honey.
Bees support the growth and fruiting of trees, flowering of plants, and rated over 70% growth of some flora species globally through pollination. These serve as food and habitats/ shelter for a lot of environmental creatures including humans. Bees contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems that allow a diverse number of different species to co-exist. They reduce deforestation and climate change rates because apiculture (bee-farming) requires trees. In short bees provide a lot of goods and services to organisms and humans.
Honey bee goods or products have a lot of income benefits and home-based usage benefits. The most common product from honey Bees is honey. Honey is the complex substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants and trees are gathered, modified and stored in the honeycomb by honey bees as a food source for the colony (saveourbees.com). From honey, tasty food such as jam, Honey Butter, Sauces, Salad Dressings, Soups, Baked Beans, Quick Breads and others are produced.
Another important goods/ product are Honey combs and pollen. A mixture of honey combs and pollen oils produce Beeswax. Beeswax is essential especially as the world is modernizing as it has a lot of uses and increasing on the market. It is used in lip balm, lip gloss, hand creams, salves, and moisturizers, and in cosmetics such as eye shadow, blush, and eye liner and lipstick. A lot of good hair products also use beeswax for growth and a shiny look.
Honey combs produce wax used for making candles, crayons, floor polish, shoe polish, and jells and many other products. There are other important products from bees such as Bee Bread, propolis, nectar, bee venom and royal Jelly.
unfortunately bees are facing devastation in their existence due to human activities especially chemical involving pollution and deforestation. According to Avaas; silently, the insect apocalypse keeps unfolding — billions of bees, butterflies, and other extraordinary tiny creatures are dying off, and the consequences may soon be catastrophic for our crops and fragile ecosystems worldwide. Agricultural pesticides and industrial activities are among the key culprits.
