Bee Health Propolis wouldn’t be here without the bees. Honeybees produce the propolis that we make supplements from. They also put honey on your toast and the wax in a tin that shows no equal as a natural polish.

There’s a day to celebrate all that on May 20th, World Bee Day, and as a manufacturer, we have a duty to spread the positive word.

An origin story

Slovenian beekeeper Anton Janša was a remarkable person who spent four years as Empress Maria Theresa’s imperial beekeeping teacher.

His impact on beekeeping as a practice and on the education around bees was so great that the date for World Bee Day, May 20th, is his birthday.

Anton grew up in a beekeeping family with hundreds of hives. He got the buzz during childhood, and it stuck with him.

Over the course of Anton’s life, he studied bees scientifically, discovered much, and wrote all about his findings in influential books on beekeeping.

Our favourite discovery of Anton’s, we’d call it more a teaching, is that colonies shouldn’t be killed when harvesting honey. He taught you could save the colony and harvest honey and other by-products sustainably and ethically.

Another discovery was drone mating in flight, a concept that some Upper Carniolan beekeepers might have known prior to Anton’s discovery, but he was the first to publish it in written works and teach others in that way.

A day just for the love of bees

World Bee Day is for celebrating bees and everything they do as pollinators. That’s the products they give to us, such as honey, propolis, and beeswax, and their role in maintaining the ecosystems they influence alongside others.

The day came about thanks to the UN General Assembly following three years of international campaigning from the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association.

As a backdrop to the big day, we’ll add that bees are culturally important from Ancient Egypt and in Greek mythology to today. It might be a new celebration, but the celebration of bees in general is nothing new for us humans.

Let’s celebrate what bees do for us

Bees give us wellness. It’s as clear as day. Honey that’s delicious, honeycomb that’s arguably even more delicious, then wax and propolis.

Pollination

Bees doing their pollinating work leads to all the propolis, honey, and wax we use today. Pollination keeps plants and ecosystems alive. Bees are not solely responsible for pollination but are key contributors.

Propolis products

Propolis is what we make supplements with. It’s one of the most interesting natural products you can consume. People take propolis capsules and tablets for health and wellness, and the same goes for lozenges and sprays.

Cream is another popular application for propolis, acting as an additive alongside the likes of glycerine to keep your skin smooth and soft.

Pollen

Bee pollen is another supplement we make. It’s a nutritional supplement believed by some scientists to improve allergies and immunity with over 250 compounds in one dose. These are in trace amounts but are interesting, nonetheless.

Food products and edibles

Honey and honeycomb, basically. Honey’s a sugar substitute and one of the most delicious combos you can have with butter and warm bread. The honeycomb is the waxy structure that holds the honey, and it too is edible.

Livelihoods

Beekeeping is a profession that many people depend on. For Anton Janša, several hundred years ago, it was a lifestyle, and the same can be said for many now, too. It isn’t unheard of for hobbyist beekeepers to sell honey as a side gig from the surplus.

How will you celebrate World Bee Day?

Our favourite way to celebrate is by helping bees out. Here’s what we do:

·       We plant wildflowers wherever we can in between other flower species

·       We let the outer grass patches grow naturally without cutting

·       We never use insecticides on plants

·       We install bee hotels on walls and fences (these are also great for other pollinators)

You can do the same. None of those efforts cost much money.

Something else you can try is bee propolis supplements. Propolis is harvested sustainably from hives and has had wellness applications for thousands of years. Browse our products and see what propolis can do for you.