World Bee Day was declared worldwide by the United Nations to draw attention to the importance of bees at the initiative of Slovenia. The global initiative World Bee Day is organized/coordinated in the Netherlands by Stichting Bijenvrienden and the Bijenstichting.

About the World Bee Day initiative
Raising public awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping products and protecting bees and beekeeping contribute to poverty alleviation, hunger elimination and the preservation of a healthy environment and its biodiversity.

Bees, as pollinators, play an important role for humanity in terms of food supply, food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, climate change mitigation and a healthy environment.

Unfortunately, bees have been facing increasing threats in recent years; raising public awareness about the importance of bees can and should help encourage collective action to protect them and their habitats.

Why May 20?
May is a special month for honey bees. The colony is very active then, producing plenty of spring honey and swarming frequently. Many wild bee species are also active in May.