European honeybees in Sheffield, England
© Deborah Vernon/Alam
A bevy of buzzers. World Bee Day
As flowers bloom in springtime, you'll hear the soft hum of bees buzzing from blossom to blossom. World Bee Day coincides with this peak pollination period and falls on the birthday of Anton Janša, a Slovenian pioneer of modern beekeeping. Bees are plant pollinators, which makes them vital to our terrestrial ecosystem. While feeding, they gather pollen to take back to their hives. Some of this pollen gets carried from plant to plant, helping them to reproduce and yield better crops. Bees attend to over 90% of our top 107 crops, so the label 'busy bee' is no myth! Bee populations worldwide have declined, so today, let's support our industrious friends by reducing pesticide use, growing native plants and letting them go about their work in peace.
Balsamroot and lupines, Methow Valley, North Cascades, Washington, USA
Sunflower
Balsamroot wildflowers bloom below the Teton Mountains in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
Field of sunflowers, Ukraine's national flower
An indigo bunting on a sunflower
Little owl (Athene noctua) perched on sunflower, Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain
Peloton during the 2018 Tour de France in Valence, France
Ruff male displaying on Varanger Peninsula in Norway
