World Bee Day 2025: Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all

20 May, 2025

In observance of the 8^th World Bee Day, the Permanent Mission of Slovenia and the FAO Office in New York, organized a special event to honor the vital role of bees and other wild pollinators in producing food and sustaining life on Earth. Held at the UN Garden Beekeeping Corner, the event provided an opportunity to acknowledge the work of nature’s tiny heroes, quietly powering the production of over 75 percent of the world’s crops through pollination.

In his welcoming remarks, Ambassador Samuel Žbogar emphasized the importance of bees and other pollinators for reproducing many flowering plants, including numerous agricultural crops. “These unsung heroes are responsible for pollinating 87 of the world’s 115 leading food crops, underscoring their indispensable contribution to agriculture and nutrition,” he stressed. The tiny workers play an outsized role also in ensuring global food security, supporting biodiversity and maintaining environmental sustainability.

Alongside Ambassador Žbogar, Ms. Angélica Jácome, Director of the FAO Liaison Office in New York, introduced this year’s theme – Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all – and highlighted the urgent need to save pollinators. As more than 20,000 bee species and other pollinators significantly contribute to the production of most of the crops we eat, their protection is essential for our future.

At the event, UN Member States, UN organizations and civil society also participated in an interactive pollinator experience with the Bee Conservancy, a New York-based nonprofit bee sanctuary. At the UN Garden Beekeeping Corner in New York, that showcases also a traditional Slovenian beehive with painted decorative panels, participants observed the beehive station, seed ball making station, and engaged in a pollinator walk and honey tasting. With the support of Bee Conservancy and by sharing some un-bee-lievable facts about bees, the demonstrations helped to raise awareness about the importance of pollinator protection and their critical role in sustaining life on our planet.