The Importance of Bees:
The Titans of our Ecosystem

What do bees actually do?

Biodiversity is the key to processes that support life on Earth. Without a wide range of microorganisms, plants and animals, we cannot have a healthy ecosystem that is crucial to the air that we breathe and the food that we eat. 

So, how can we sustain a healthy ecosystem? This is where bees come into play. Jamie Cao of Bee Happy, a producer of raw organic honey in Jiangxi, China, explains: “While we all know that honey comes from bees, it is not honey that defines the importance of bees to us. In fact, less than four percent of the more than 20,000 species of bees on the planet produce honey.” 

Indeed, the vast majority of bees play a much more important role than the production of honey, namely the pollination of plants and crops. Ms. Cao elaborates: “Bees collect nectar and pollen from the power of a plant. Some of the pollen from the stamens [the male productive part of a flower] sticks to the hairs of the bee’s body. When the bee flies to the next flower, this pollen is rubbed off to the stigma [the female reproductive organ], and this process allows for fertilization to occur, and a fruit can develop.”

Of all animals, bees are the most dominant pollinators of both wild and crop plants. They visit over 90% of the world’s top 107 crops. Additionally, around 75% of crops produce better yields if they are pollinated by animals. In other words, bees are often essential for the growth of plants and food crops. 

However, these facts show that bees are not only important for the survival of humans, but also for the survival of animals. This is through the creation of food and shelter. Ecosystems that develop using the work of pollinators (such as bees) provide support to a wide range of fauna including bugs, insects, birds, small mammals and sometimes even larger animals who feed on the fruits and vegetables and can find shelter in larger areas of vegetation. 

Beyond pollination, bees also play a role in soil enrichment, pest control, nutrient cycling and simply being a part of the food chain. Through nutrient cycling, bees transport and transform nutrients throughout various components of the exosystem such as the atmosphere and water, effectively leading to soil enrichment. Some species of bees, such as carpenter bees, also feed on pests which helps protect crops and reduces the need for pesticides or other forms of chemical intervention.

Roland de Jonghe, a Belgian veterinarian, explains: “Without bees, the diversity and availability of fresh produce would decrease dramatically. As a result, the quality of our nutrition would suffer substantially. We really need them for our survival.” 

In 1987, Mr. De Jonghe began breeding bumblebees in his garage to grow organically pollinated tomatoes. He was fascinated by the process and decided to offer this technique to the rest of the world. Afterwards, he founded Biobest and, over time, optimized the process of pollination using his bees. Biobest is now the global leader in natural pollination and biological crop protection, working with its clients to produce food in an organic and sustainable way. 

Ms. Cao brings home the message: “Without this fertilization, we can’t have biodiversity, and this would hamper worldwide food production, among others. We therefore have to protect bees by protecting their habitat and by keeping their population levels steady.”

My friend Tony was humbled (or should I say bumbled?) by what I told him. He understood that each of us have a role to play in protecting bees and ensuring biodiversity on our planet. We can do this in our own daily lives, but also through the actions that we take in our society, including raising awareness, and lobbying with decision makers to enact policies for the protection of these tiny titans of our ecosystem.