NEXT Monday, May 20 is World Bee Day, the purpose of which is to increase knowledge and awareness of the critical role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem, particularly including agriculture. 

The Wheen Bee Foundation, an Australian not-for-profit organisation, is the designated secretariat organising the day in Australia.

World Bee Day commenced in 2017 and is held on May 20, this being the date of baptism of Anton Janša who pioneered modern beekeeping techniques (his precise birth date is not known).

Janša hailed from what is now Slovenia and was an artist and beekeeper.

He designed the modern-day hive system based on a number of stacked boxes as well as identifying that the queen bee was fertilised in flight.

He also proposed situating hives in pasture for pollination purposes.

The Wheen Bee Foundation is named after Gretchen Wheen (1929-2012) who is recognised as one of Australia’s greatest beekeepers.

She left the bulk of her estate to set up the Foundation.

Gretchen Wheen’s father, Arthur, was a highly decorated World War 1 soldier and Rhodes Scholar who went on to be the Keeper of the Library at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum as well as translating Erich Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front from the original German.

Both Gretchen’s parents were born in Australia but lived in England and Gretchen was brought up in a Quaker village in Buckinghamshire.

In 1940 she was shipped to Australia to stay with relatives.

She went back to England after the war but returned to Australia in 1951, going on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree at Sydney University.

While at university Gretchen spotted a swarm of bees and, using techniques learned from her mother, took it home and set up a hive on her verandah.

From this, her career as a beekeeper grew and thrived.

She undertook a horticulture course at Hawkesbury Agricultural College and the number of her hives steadily increased.

Gretchen Wheen was passionate about the genetic improvement of bees and was instrumental in artificial insemination as well as the importation of improved bloodlines.

She played a major role in the setting up of the original quarantine facility at Eastern Creek, New South Wales.

The Wheen Bee Foundation and World Bee Day

THE aim of both the Foundation and World Bee Day is to make people aware of the crucial importance of bees and other pollinators to world food security.

The Wheen Bee Foundation places a strong emphasis on agriculture in its work.

The global bee (and insect) population is falling and the effects are being felt in agricultural production.

It has been estimated that some 75 per cent of the food crop species grown in the world rely on insect pollination.

Of crops and pasture species commonly grown in the Western District, clovers, canola, linseed, lucerne and faba beans all rely on bees.

The Wheen Bee Foundation website includes “Powerful Pollinators” including a special section devoted to the Western District and another to the Grampians area.

The region-specific guides list relevant information helpful to primary producers about pollinator habitat and floral resources to enable users such as land managers, Landcare groups, nurseries and gardeners to select the most appropriate indigenous species that provide value for pollinators.

The Foundation, like its founder, stresses that it is imperative to provide flowering species through the year to keep bees nourished and busy.

By selecting the right species mixes for biodiversity planting in farm forestry, bees and other pollinating insects can be nurtured.

Wheen Bee Foundation chief executive, Fiona Chambers recently stated, “Most people know bees play a role in food production, but few know the sheer scale of their contribution.

“Here in Australia, at least 53 crops rely to some extent on bees,” she said.

“These include almonds, avocados, apples, berries, stone fruit and carrot, but also oilseeds such as canola, and legumes like clover and lucerne that feed farm livestock.

“Often when you sit down for dinner, the whole plate will have some link to bees.”

Bees may be small but they are mighty.

Events

This year, World Bee Day will see a host of events and activities take place at farmers’ markets, community centres, botanic gardens, local businesses, embassies, cinemas, apiaries and schools.

Activities include bee-themed craft workshops, musical performances, honey tastings and a series of webinars with experts in bees and pollination.

The webinars cover many subjects - Sunday (tomorrow) on Powerful Pollinators, Monday on ground nesting bees of Australia and the world, and Tuesday covering the role of bees in Australian food production systems.

A first for World Bee Day 2024 is the Great Bee Morning Tea, a new nationwide morning tea to celebrate the vital roles bees and beekeepers play in food production, biodiversity and ecosystem health.

“Getting involved is easy, simply gather a group of friends or colleagues and encourage everyone to bring something made with Australian honey,” Ms Chambers said.

“This is a sweet, fun way to support the unsung honey heroes of Australian agriculture,” Ms Chambers said.

A full list of World Bee Day events is available at worldbeeday.org.au

More information can be found at wheenbeefoundation.org.au including downloads of the Powerful Pollinators guides.