Pollination and human health are closely linked. I like to say that we get full without pollinators, but healthy only with them. Of course, human health – like bee health – depends on many factors. But as you all know: Healthy nutrition is an important part of it. This insight also arrived in human medicine…
Agriculture and gardens are important elements in the discussions about bee habitat. Usually, they’re presented as a contrast: “More bee diversity in gardens than in farmland!” and similar headlines are quite common. This may be even true in some cases. There are studies showing this, and I’ve talked about simplified landscapes and their risks to…
“Native bees” is a buzzword and is becoming more and more a synonym for all bee species except honey bees. Not even all honey bees: Generally, it’s used to contrast Western honey bees, Apis mellifera. It mainly comes from North American and Australian bee researchers. In these regions, honey bees aren’t native. Therefore, the contrast…
Bee health and biodiversity may not be the most obvious connection. The first thing that comes to your mind could be flower diversity – it’s important for bee nutrition and, therefore, health. But this time, it’s all about the value of biodiversity for avoiding virus infections. Something mostly unexplored. To be honest, a connection I…
Silent hunger means a deficiency of nutrients that affects billions of people worldwide. When wanting to eradicate hunger it’s not only about the calories – the vitamins, the minerals, and antioxidants are important, too. And that’s where pollinators come in. I already talked about the – in my opinion – missed opportunity of including pollinators in the International Year of Fruit and Vegetables. In addition…
FAO declared 2021 the International Year of Fruit and Vegetables. They want to attract attention to the importance of fruit and veggies for healthy nutrition. In the end, it’s also about ending poverty, as these food crops give farmers income and foster more diverse agriculture. Another objective is to reduce waste and losses in food…
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