These Bumblebee Cats Want You To Help Protect the Bees!

World Bee Day may have bee-n on May 20th, but these cats are here with an important message: Paw-tect the Bees! The purpose of this international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. In 2018, 40% of honeybee colonies perished in the winter. Bees are losing their habitats to farming and urbanization. The use of pesticides and fertilizers is also to blame, and so is climate change. And now, murder hornets (aka Asian giant hornet) might be the next big threat to bee colonies. These bumblebee cats are here to tell you some #BeeFacts and how you can help celebrate the bees! 

Did You Know:

1. Though bees have jointed legs, they do not possess anything like a kneecap, and therefore do not have knees.

2. Honey has antiseptic properties and was historically used as a dressing for wounds and a first aid treatment for burns and cuts.

3. The natural fruit sugars in honey – fructose and glucose – are quickly digested by the body. This is why sportsmen and athletes use honey to give them a natural energy boost.

4. The practice of beekeeping dates back at least 4,500 years.

5. Bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make one pound of honey.

6. One bee has to fly about 90,000 miles – three times around the globe – to make one pound of honey.

7. The average bee will make only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

8. A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.

9. A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

10. Bees communicate by dancing.

Ideas To Celebrate/Support Bees:

• Visit beekeepers to become acquainted with the work.
• Plant bee-friendly shrubs or flowers in your garden

• Make and set up a farm for bees and other pollinators in your home garden, yard, terrace, etc.
• Have a "bee breakfast" that contains honey and other hive products
• Plant nectar-bearing flowers for decorative purposes on balconies, terraces, and gardens.
• Buy honey and other hive products from your nearest local beekeeper.
• Set up a pollinator farm on your balcony, terrace, or garden; you can either make it yourself or buy at any home furnishings store.

• Preserve old meadows – which feature a more diverse array of flowers – and sow nectar-bearing plants.
• Cut grass on meadows only after the nectar-bearing plants have finished blooming.
• Offer suitable farming locations for the temporary or permanent settlement of bees so that they have suitable pasture; as a consequence, they will pollinate our plants, which will thereby bear more fruit.
• Use pesticides that do not harm bees, and spray them in windless weather, either early in the morning or late at night, when bees withdraw from blossoms.
• Dress up as a bee/wear clothes with bee motifs
• Support a beekeeping/environmental charity
• Alert all your contacts on social media to World Bee Awareness Day