COLOGNE, Germany (AP) 鈥 On the eighth annual 鈥淲orld Bee Day,鈥 the bees did not seem bothered.
They should be.
Bees and other pollinators have been , and experts blame a combination of factors: insecticides, parasites, disease, climate change and lack of a diverse food supply. A significant part of the human diet comes from plants pollinated by bees 鈥 not just honeybees, but hundreds of species of lesser-known wild bees, many of which are endangered.
In 2018, the U.N. General Assembly sponsored the first 鈥淲orld Bee Day鈥 to bring . Steps as small as planting a pollinator garden or buying raw honey from local farmers were encouraged.
May 20 was chosen for 鈥淲orld Bee Day鈥 to coincide with the birthday of Anton Jan拧a, an 18th century pioneer in modern beekeeping techniques in his native Slovenia.
In Germany, where bees contribute 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in economic benefits, they鈥檙e key to pollinating the iconic yellow rapeseed fields that dominate the countryside in the spring.
On Tuesday, around 400,000 bees in urban rooftop hives in the western city of Cologne 鈥 where the yellow fields flower 鈥 were busy at work making honey.
They seemed oblivious to the threats that endanger their survival. Scientists and bee experts like Matthias Roth, chairman of the Cologne Beekeepers Association, hope World Bee Day can raise awareness.
For Roth, it鈥檚 crucial to protect both honey bees 鈥 like the ones in his rooftop hives 鈥 and wild species. His organization has set up nesting boxes in the hopes of helping solitary bees, which don鈥檛 form hives, but Roth fears that it鈥檚 not enough.
鈥淲e must take care of nature,鈥 Roth said Tuesday. 鈥淲e have become far removed from nature, especially in cities, and we must take care of wild bees in particular.鈥
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Fanny Brodersen reported from Berlin, and Michael Probst from Wehrheim, Germany. Kerstin Sopke and Stefanie Dazio contributed to this report from Berlin.
