Bees are creatures of critical importance for the continuation of the human race. It is accepted that bees have been on earth for 100 million years. The history of humanity is only 300 thousand years. One in every three foods that come to our table is produced by bees; 3 percent of food is obtained from 90 different plant species. 82 of these 82 species are pollinated by bees and their seeds are dispersed into the environment. While negative factors such as climate change, incorrect, unconscious and uncontrolled agricultural pesticide application, and polluted water resources reduce the bee population, they also deprive us of bee products, which are a very valuable food source. However, honey is one of the rare foods in the world that can remain intact for many years, preserving its value…
To emphasize the importance of bees and raise awareness on this issue, May 20 is celebrated as "World Bee Day" every year around the world. Turkey's number one honey brand, which has been making efforts to develop bees and beekeeping for nearly half a century. Balparmak's Chairman of the Board Özen Altıparmak also drew attention to this issue on World Bee Day. Altiparmak, “A honey bee can fly from its hive over an area of 80 km² to collect pollen and nectar. Therefore, adverse environmental conditions and uncontrolled spraying of agricultural areas have a significant impact on the bee population and the quality of bee products. "Serious measures need to be taken for the sustainability of nature," he said.
The Use of Nature-Friendly, Ecological Agricultural Pesticides Should Be Encouraged
Pointing out that urgent measures should be taken to protect the existence of bees, Altıparmak stated that farmers can be encouraged to use good pesticides and to apply pesticides at night when bees will not fly. Emphasizing the importance of public authorities increasing inspections on this issue, Altıparmak said, “Unfortunately, pesticides that have serious effects on the ecosystem are widely used in our country. This is why it is very important to support and increase producers who do not use drugs containing toxic chemicals and produce ecologically compatible products. "Relevant institutions and decision-makers should quickly implement sanctions on this issue in our country, focus on inspection and awareness-raising activities, and encourage ecological, nature-friendly and sustainable methods," he said.
Happy Bee Day, the World's Most Ancient Workers!
Emphasizing that bees are one of the oldest inhabitants of the earth, Altıparmak said: “We cannot thank bees enough, whose existence in the world dates back to before human beings and who literally "turn around" the world... With the right steps we will take to protect bees, not only them; It is possible to create better conditions for the future of the whole world! Because without bees, there would be no pollination, no plants, no animals, and eventually no humans. Bees, producers of one of the most delicious natural foods in the world, are among the most intriguing creatures in the living world with their extraordinary life cycles and colony structures. These tiny creatures make a significant contribution to the sustainability of nature throughout their life cycle. There are still many steps to be taken to explain the role of the bee population on our planet to all generations. "World Bee Day celebrations, which have been held worldwide every year since 2017, are among the most comprehensive steps ever taken to raise awareness about the relationship between bees and ecosystems."
Beekeeping Profession is Aging Due to Fraudulent Honey!
Noting that beekeepers have difficulty in coping with unfair competition due to fraudulent honey sold in the market, Altıparmak said, “We have been working for the protection of the existence of bees and the development of the beekeeping profession for nearly half a century. Due to the fraud in honey, not only the consumers but also the veteran beekeepers, who do their job with sweat, are harmed. Türkiye is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of bee population. Beekeeping, together with its by-products, provides a wide range of employment opportunities in our country. It is very important that beekeeping is passed on from father to children and that the family earns a living from beekeeping. Added to this rather arduous profession is the problem of imitation and adulteration that needs to be combated. Our beekeepers, who do their job properly, are trying to compete with fraudulent honey sold in the market. As the profitability of this already challenging profession begins to decrease due to this tiring struggle, beekeeping is no longer preferred by young families, meaning the beekeeping profession is getting old. We saw this risk and launched the Balparmak Beekeeping Academy in 2018 and undertook the mission of bringing women and young beekeepers into the profession. We aimed to introduce women and young people in rural development regions to beekeeping and to support the sustainability of the beekeeping profession. To date, we have managed to reach 700 women and young people with face-to-face training and more than 700 women and young people with online training. In our trainings, we try to correct 'misconceptions' in order to increase efficiency and quality in beekeeping through modern beekeeping techniques training, as well as to produce value-added bee products more efficiently and with higher quality. "Thanks to our training, we aim to encourage the beekeeping profession to young generations and increase household incomes," he said.
The Food Product Most Exposed to Fraud is Honey
Altıparmak emphasized that, according to the research conducted by EFSA, they fought hard to obtain the natural version of honey, which is one of the food products most exposed to adulteration, and to preserve its naturalness until it is presented to the tables, and that they made a first in the world in analyzing imitation and adulteration, that is, cheating, in honey. he stated. Stating that he sees food safety as the basic element of branding, Altıparmak continued his words as follows: “In our country, we are struggling with honey sold openly or products with lack of control being on the shelves. Thanks to the technological investments we have made in our Balparmak R&D Center and our expert academic staff from different disciplines, we can detect all kinds of products recorded as adulterated honey, obtained from sugar syrups such as corn, beet, rice and agave, and sold as honey. In addition, we can detect the presence of food dyes and enzyme additives added to the adulterated honey obtained from these syrups in order to give the perception of real honey, in a highly accurate and sensitive format. "We are fighting this fight to both protect the consumer and the labor of the beekeeper, who does his job properly and with sweat," he said.
How Was World Bee Day Born?
World Bee Day is a special time period that is celebrated with various events to draw attention to the importance of the bond between bees and life. World Bee Day, declared by the United Nations (UN), is celebrated in May, when summer approaches and bee populations flock to nature. World Bee Day celebrations are held on May 20 every year. The main reason for declaring this date as World Bee Day is that it is the birthday of Slovenian Apiarist Anton Janša, known as the father of modern beekeeping. The UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed to be achieved by the end of 2030, play an important role in celebrating this as a special day. This universal call to action invites all countries to take action to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity. Celebrating May 20 as World Bee Day; It was accepted unanimously at the UN General Assembly meeting held on 20 December 2017. Considering that bee and human life have a close bond in all areas, the draft resolution presented at the Board received great support with the joint participation of 115 countries. World Bee Day on May 2021, celebrated for the fourth time in 20, continues to be celebrated with larger organizations every year in almost all countries. While bees move from flower to flower to obtain their food, they also mediate pollination in plants. In fact, it plays the most critical role in the continuity of the ecosystem by providing the majority of pollen exchange on earth. All these activities of bees enable the production of 70 percent of the foods most frequently consumed by humans. This means that we owe almost every meal we consume to bees. It is estimated that if bees disappear, there will be a reduction in pollination of plants by up to 80 percent. This shows that many members of the flora, especially flowering plants (fruits, vegetables, etc.), will quickly become extinct. When plant species become so extinct, it seems inevitable that there will be major negative changes in human life as well as natural life on earth. In short; When viewed from this perspective, the word bee means both "purity" and "life"!
How Can We Protect Bees?
- The use of pesticides in homes and gardens should be reduced.
- Unplanned urbanization should be prevented and natural areas should be protected.
- Pesticide spraying should be reduced in agriculture and good agricultural practices should be disseminated.
- Strategic measures should be taken across the country against climate change.
- Programs and events should be organized in order to establish nature awareness in new generations.
- More incentives should be created for beekeeping activities.
- Planting of flowering plants that bees can benefit from should be expanded in gardens and balconies of property, as well as in agricultural and landscape areas.
In order to overcome the fear of bees in society, the public should be made more aware of the defense mechanism of bees.
About Balparmak
Balparmak, which differentiates itself with the quality standard it offers to its consumers and works with the mission of preserving the naturalness and purity of honey and bee products and raising them to the highest value they deserve, assumes the leadership of the sector in this sense. Working according to international standards on food safety, Balparmak also has international food safety systems certificates such as FSSC 22000 (FoodSafetySystemCertification) and BRCGS (British RetailConsortium Global Standards). Balparmak, which has Turkey's first R&D Center in the field of honey and other bee products and the 8th in the field of food; Thanks to the Honey and Other Bee Products Research and Quality Control Laboratory accredited by TÜRKAK, it analyzes the products it offers to its consumers in at least 100 parameters.
Source: HORECA Trend and Balparmak