The World Bee Day was celebrated yesterday at the venue of the Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC in Madrid by the Embassy of Slovenia, along with the diplomatic delegations from Belgium, Andorra, Croatia, and Lithuania, as well as associations that protect beekeeping.
The Slovenian ambassador Tadej Rupel pointed out that in 2014 his country presented to the United Nations the proposal to recognize May 20, the birth date of the Slovenian beekeeper Anton Janša, considered the father of modern apiculture, as the World Bee Day. Three years later, the proposal was accepted on May 20, 2017.
“Since then, the ambassador pointed out, every year, both our country and our Embassy seek to organize an event that raises awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinators. This year it is a pleasure for us to have been able to organize the event here at the Royal Botanical Garden.”
The ambassador thanked for the support received for the organization of the event, as well as to the embassies that “have recognized the potential of this event, he pointed out, to the institutions that have accompanied us, to the companies that have seen in bees the possibility of promoting sustainable change and thanks to all the associations, foundations, and beekeepers who strive every day to safeguard the bees. Likewise, I would like to thank the support of the Slovenian beekeeping associations, both at the national and local levels.”
The Slovenian ambassador concluded by emphasizing that “the objective of this day is to make known that bees go far beyond honey production, they are essential for the environment as a whole and for us within it.”
The deputy director of Garden and Scientific Culture of the Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC (RJB-CSIC), Dr. Ricarda Riina Olivares, after excusing the absence of the director of the Royal Garden, María Paz Martín, that the RJB-CSIC “celebrated last year nothing more and nothing less than our 270 years of history, so we really thank the team of the Embassy of Slovenia for having selected this house for such an important celebration. It is a wonderful initiative to celebrate a world bee day, a celebration that I believe focuses on these insects that are so important for our well-being, our survival, and the conservation of ecosystems and our biodiversity.”
The deputy director continued indicating that bees “are part of a complex gear, a network of ecological interactions that we can hardly understand yet, but on which a large part of what we are as a society really depends. So an event like this awakens our curiosity and interest to understand this species and its siblings and relatives, and calls us to action also to contribute to making this part of nature function and survive in good health, because it will also impact our good health and our society.”
The deputy counselor of Environment, Agriculture, and Territorial Planning of the Community of Madrid, Rafael García González, gave a few words, commenting: “Pollinators are responsible for maintaining 84% of the species that inhabit our region today and are also responsible for 75% of the products that are cultivated in the world.
Likewise, videos were shown with greetings from Bostjan Noc, president of the European Beekeeping Association, and Peter Kozmus, acting president of Apimondia.
After the welcome speeches, two dialogue panels took place featuring special beekeepers, who addressed Plants, pollinators, and crops; Preservation policies and Data on the bee population, threats, and environmental pressures, as well as, in a second talk, about The climate and flowers, Predators and the joint growth of Beekeeping and agriculture.
Alongside these panels, attendees were able to visit the stands of the embassies of Belgium, Andorra, Croatia, and Lithuania, which exhibited their typical products derived from bee production, featuring honey.
Likewise, they were present with their stands Wild Bee, APISCAM, the Fire Department of the City of Madrid, The bee corner, the Friends of Bees Foundation, IMIDRA, LG Spain and Cantueso Natural Seeds, in an exhibition space in the Glorieta de los Plátanos of the Botanical Garden.
To conclude, the Fire Department of the City of Madrid conducted a practical demonstration of their work in the event of discovering a hive in any location, whether in a home or in an outdoor place.
