Feature

Importance of Bee to Ecosystem

By Web News 174

By Titilayo Kupoliyi

Bees provide profound benefits to human health through direct therapeutic products (apitherapy) and critical global ecosystem services, acting as the foundation of global food security.
Beyond their agricultural necessity, bee-derived products are rich in bioactive compounds that offer numerous health advantages.
Bees and their byproducts such as honey, royal jelly, propolis, and bee venom are rich in antioxidants, amino acids, and minerals.
They are widely used in traditional therapies to boost immunity, accelerate wound healing, and soothe inflammation.
Beekeeping itself is also recognized as a therapeutic practice to reduce stress and anxiety.
Bees are vital to the ecosystem, primarily because they pollinate nearly 85% of global food crops and wildflowers, ensuring food security and biodiversity. Additionally, they provide humans with highly beneficial natural products, including honey, beeswax, royal jelly, and propolis, which are used for nutrition, medicine, and skincare.
To this end, every 20th of May is set aside by the United Nations as World Bee Day to highlights the critical role bees play in sustaining ecosystems, ensuring global food security, and preserving biodiversity.

The 2026 global theme is “Bee Together for People and the Planet – A partnership that sustains us all,” highlighting the millennia-long, vital connection between humanity and bees.

Speaking on the importance of bee and its byproducts, Chairman, Bees Farmer Association, Iwo, Osun State, Alhaji Abdulkabir Taleat , noted that bee is a life saver and can be a good source of income.
God himself accord importance to bee as indicated in the Holy books of Quran and Bible. The bee is a life saver, when anyone is sick and get stinks by bee, the person gets healing”.
Alhaji Taleat stressed that bees also serve as fertilizers as their pollination aids plant growth while honey which is a byproduct of bee is effective in healing most diseases.


“whenever the bee perch on any plant, it fertilizes it, which makes it grow faster, produces more and healthy fruits”.
“Also, honey is very effective in dressing wounds”.
“Bee is a good source of income, whoever rears bee in large quantity, will always get good money from it”.
The bee farmer encouraged people to go into bee rearing aside being a good source of income, rearing bee will lead to a healthy environment.

“Contributing, a nutritionist at the University College Hospital, Mr Tunde Ajobo emphasized that bees are important part of the ecosystem as they help in pollination which increases oxygen circulation, vital to human existence.
“Bees fly about, sucks on nectar, which helps in flower pollination, also increases oxygen circulation, which man takes in, and release carbon dioxide out “.
Mr Ajobo pointed out that, bees produce honey which is a good source of food for humans.

Bees produce honey, which is a useful vitamin for the body. It helps with the immune system. Honey builds the brain cells”.
“Honey can be used as alternative to sugar”.
The food nutritionist cautioned against excessive consumption of honey, as it could lead to allergic reactions, elevation of the blood glucose and diabetes.

Edited by Olaolu Fawole

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Agriculture

Venture into Bee Keeping, Expert Advises Youths

By Web News 222

By Lanre Omotoso

Governments at all levels should engage youths in beekeeping to reduce the country’s unemployment rate.

A bee-keeper, Mr Daramola Akinwale, advised while speaking with Radio Nigeria in Ado-Ekiti on the occasion of World Bee Day.

Mr Akinwale noted that, aside from employment generation, bee-keeping would help the country to diversify the economy from petroleum and generate more revenue.

The bee-keeper said that a litre of honey costs over six thousand naira, compared to petroleum products, which is less than one thousand naira, hence the need for aggressive investment in bee-keeping.

Mr Akinwale, who is also a retiree, identified by-products to be derived from bee rearing to include honey, wax, propolis and pollen, saying that the wax derived from bees could also be made into medicinal candles, shoe polish, as well as cream which clears body rashes.

The retiree who emphasised that beekeeping is not energy-sapping stressed that a keeper only needed a bee house, known as a hive, where he would be drawing income quarterly without stress.

He, however, identified bee-keeping challenges to include poaching, bush burning and finance, calling on the authorities to help create a bee-village to be equipped with necessary security gadgets in order to reduce vandalism.

The United Nations had in 2017 designated May 20 as World Bee Day to highlight the vital roles played by bees and other pollinators in Ecosystem Restoration, Food Security, as well as Sustainable Agriculture, and the theme for this year is “Be inspired by nature to nourish us all”.

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Agriculture

Don Urges Youths to Tap Potential of Bee Business

By Web News 325

By Lanre Omotosho

As the World commemorates Bee Day, youths across Nigeria have been enjoined to explore various value chains involved in the bee business.

A lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University Oye Ekiti, Professor Raphael Omolehin gave the advice to commemorate the Day with the theme “Bee Engaged With Youth”.

Professor Omolehin who frowned at importation of honey bee into the country, charged Nigerian youths to bridge the gap.

The agricultural-economist emphasized that rearing bee required little capital with huge returns on investment, hence youth should embrace such.

He explained that engagement of young people in beekeeping as new generation of environmental leaders would improve quality agriculture that would be benefitial to both human populations and the ecosystem.  

The don identified honey, pollen, propolis, bee bread, royal jelly and wax among the by-products that could be derived from rearing bees which are useful for domestic, industrial and pharmaceutical companies.

Professor Raphael Omolehin stressed that bee as pollinator is significant to food production and human existence, hence the need to desist from destroying them with fire and harmful chemicals.

United Nations General Assembly had in 2017 declared May 20 as World Bee Day to  raise awareness on the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy. 

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