The campaign “The real life of bee Maya” uncovers not such a sweet truth of producing honey
The campaign “The real life of bee Maya” uncovers not such a sweet truth of producing honey
The campaign “The real life of bee Maya” uncovers not such a sweet truth of producing honey
July 7, 2022
Environment, Ethics, Good to know, Health
The campaign “The real life of bee Maya” is the first campaign that we have dedicated to our hardworking bees, and we officially and symbolically launched it on May 20, which is also World Bee Day.
The goal of the campaign was to make a wider audience aware of the importance and role of bees in our world, and to introduce the process of honey production to citizens and what bitter truths are hidden behind that sweet, well-known syrup.
Why was it important for us to start this campaign?
Like all other animals bees are no exception, they are presented to people as a commodity to be used, thereby removing all those qualities that make these valuable creatures what they are.
Our campaign consisted of a series of posts on our social media pages where we shared various information about pollinators and bees, the difference between wild bees and honey bees, the honey industry and cruel beekeeping practices.
In addition to several short posts, we also published an article about why are bees important and the focus is on what happens to bees, what affects their populations, and how can we help as individuals.
Here you can see the posts “How is honey made?” and “What is royal jelly?”
The main part of our campaign was a short video that explains the entire process of beekeeping and honey production.
How is honey made? How are bees being controlled? How is that harmful to us?
You can get answers to these and many other questions in our video.
In addition, the video talks about cruel beekeeping practices such as artificial insemination, wing clipping, and the destruction of the bee colony in the winter months.
You can watch the video by clicking on this LINK.
This video brings our focus back to the fact that bees produce honey for themselves, not for us humans.
During the campaign, we also made an information leaflet entitled “The not so sweet truth behind the honey industry”. You can view the flyer here: flyer_The real life of the bee Maya_digital.
Considering the nature of the campaign and the demand for honey as a product, in addition to the educational article, we dedicated a separate article to vegan alternatives or substitutes for honey. If you haven’t had a chance to read this article, you can find it HERE.
Is honey really necessary for us when we have so many other options?
How and why did we start to think that honey is made for us? Why are we so used to colonizing all living beings and exploiting them cruelly?
Each bee is part of a community and each one fulfills its obligations, thus serving its colony, the queen and future generations of bees.
But the duties of the bees do not end with the duties towards the queen and the colony. Bees as pollinators have a much wider and greater significance.
Almost 90% of the world’s wild flowering plant species are completely or at least partially dependent on pollinators, along with more than 75% of food crops and 35% of agricultural land.
Yes, bees as pollinators directly contribute to the food supply and are key factors in preserving biological diversity.
However, research by international organizations points to a frightening decrease in the population of wild bees. In Europe alone, the number of pollinators has decreased by three quarters in the last 30 years.
If we continue to have this kind of relationship with bees and our environment, we will soon be witnesses of an age without many types of fruits, vegetables and other plants that we enjoy today.
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There’s a difference between wild bees and honey bees
It is important to emphasize that while the population of wild bees and pollinators is decreasing, the population of honey bees is constantly increasing.
The problem arises when there is an imbalance between bee populations, and honey bees actively compete in collecting pollen and nectar with wild bees.
Diversity is important for the ecosystem, and we do not exclude pollinators from this. We need different pollinators to pollinate different plant species, because if only one species is persistently pollinated, the others die out.
Honey bees, although they pollinate by collecting pollen and nectar, are not as efficient compared to wild bees.
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