Bee keeping is practiced by many small scale farmers in Kenya. From honey for nutritional purposes, to pollen, bee bread, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom for medical use (Apitherapy).
With all the above reasons, it’s quite clear to see why bee keeping is used as an alternative source of income by many farmers in Kenya.80% of pollination globally is performed by both wild and domestic bees. Each day, 300 million flowers are pollinated by a single bee colony. Without pollination genetic diversity of various plant species can be lost.
Unfortunately, bee colonies all over the world are experiencing a decline due to various factors; Habitat degradation, drought, pollution, and pesticides are killing bee species. Habitat fragmentation and use of toxic pesticides are killing these species at a very alarming rate.
Wild bee habitats have also reduced due to industrial agribusiness which converts grasslands and forest into monoculture farms, and then contaminate them with pesticides. The European Food Safety Authority scientific report states that, neonicotinoid pesticides – chemicals obtained from a naturally occurring plant compound; nicotine and has insecticidal properties- pose a very high threat for bees. These pesticides act on the nervous systems of bees causing them to die and those that survive end up weak and have developmental defects leading to a devastating collapse in their colonies.
Restoration of bee colonies is achievable according to Greenpeace report Bees in Decline by putting into practice the following solutions:
• Ban the most dangerous pesticides
• Safeguard pollinator health by conserving their habitat
• Restoration of ecological agriculture
Hence let us” bee” more mindful and practice proper farming techniques that will contribute to conservation and restoration of bee colonies.
Comments (1)
This shows real extrspiee. Thanks for the answer.