4 Things to Know About Honey Bees and 4 Ways to Help Protect Them

For National Honey Bee Day this week (August 18), we’re celebrating the small but mighty creature. Here’s What You Need to Know About Honey Bees

• One-third of our food in the U.S., including 130 fruits and vegetables, depends on pollination from honey bees and other insects.
• The honey bee is one of more than 20,000 distinct bee species around the world.
• A honey bee can visit 50 to 1,000 flowers in one trip.
• The number of honey bee hives in this country has decreased from six million in the 1940s to about 2.5 million today. Since 2006, an estimated 30% of bee hives have collapsed as a result of disease, parasites, poor nutrition, and pesticide exposure.

Here’s What You Can Do to Protect Honey Bees

• Take Earth Day Network’s Pesticide Pledge to help reduce the amount of pesticides that are killing our honey bees and other pollinators.
• Support local beekeepers by getting your honey from local farmers’ markets and other local businesses.
• Create a pollinator habitat with bee-friendly plants in your yard or on your school or business property.
• Plant a bee water garden to attract pollinators.

Bonus: Support Earth Day Network in our work to protect our flying, fuzzy, furry and even our slimy, slippery animal friends.

Tags:

• bees
• endangered species
• pollinators