World Bee Day raises awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinators in our ecosystem. It is celebrated May 20 in honor of Anton Jansa who is considered a pioneer of modern beekeeping. Anton Jansa was born in 1734 in Breznica, Carniola which is in modern day Slovenia. He studied engraving and painting with his brothers in Vienna. However, his passion and fascination for bees, which was developed at a very young age, inspired him to become a beekeeper. As an imperial beekeeper for the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, he traveled the Austrian empire providing lectures on bees and beekeeping. He also wrote two books on beekeeping and popularized the method of smoking bees to collect honey. His most important contribution was changing the size and shape of hives to a form where they could be stacked together like blocks. Because he was a painter, Jansa decorated the drawers of his hives with paintings. These were typically decorated with characters and scenes from folk tales.

Remembering Anton Jansa’s contributions and other beekeeping pioneers should be an important part of celebrating World Bee Day, but we should also use this day to learn how to protect bees and other pollinators and pledge to help create and conserve pollinator habitat.
It is common knowledge that honey bees provide important food like honey, royal jelly and pollen but propolis, beeswax and even honey bee venom are used in a variety of products especially in the healthcare field. Most importantly, bees and other pollinators are responsible for pollinating 90 percent of flowering plants and more than 70 percent of the world’s agricultural crops. Pollination is the process by which plants produce seeds and thus reproduce.

A variety of animals help facilitate that process and are called pollinators. Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, bats and hummingbirds provide the vital ecological service of pollination. These pollinators are essential to natural ecosystems and the human food supply.
Pollinators face increasing threats from intensive farming practices, land-use changes, habitat loss, introduced diseases and pesticide use.

Arlington residents, business owners and other property owners can help bees and other pollinators by signing the Pollinator Protection Pledge.

• Grow pollinator friendly flowers
• Provide nest sites for pollinators
• Avoid/Reduce your usage of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.
• Spread the word

Celebrate World Bee Day by taking the Pollinator Protection Pledge and learning about native bees and other pollinators in Arlington.