Because the planet operates on plant matter - even the meat we eat consumes plants first - pollinators are vital for food security and biodiversity.

They are responsible, along with other pollinators such as butterflies, flies and bats, for pollinating up to 75% of the entire food chain of the eco system of the planet. Some plants are self pollinating of course!

Honeybees specifically play an active role in pollinating about 30 crops, without which, would certainly decline in production unless other forms of hand pollination - which had to be implemented in Sichuan Province, China when they decimated their entire native pollinator population through use of pesticides - is used like for Sichuan Province with it's crop of pears.

Honeybees and pollinators also increase the yield of both seed crops and fruit crops across at least 75 different agricultural varieties.

But honeybees not only help with yield of actual quantity of the crop, fruit or nut in production but also the quality of the produce. The nut, fruit and bean set is larger and of greater volume or mass.

"But this all sounds like it's for the BIG Boys... What can a hobby newbee beekeeper really contribute in the scheme of things?"

By becoming a padiwan beekeeper, you become an ambassador for bees and pollinators in your space. Your corner of the world. Your plek.

After I went on a full day course back n 2003, I could NOT stop talking about bees for about 3 months incessantly. I basically ended up running out of people I knew that had not already been completely immersed in my conversation and sharing of beekeeping and bees. It was old school internet...

 Every time you hear of bees, see a bee, talk to a farmer and eat honey with your family or friends you're likely to reminisce about your bee facts and anecdotes about beeing a hobby beekeeper. Their vital role in our eco system.

With even just one person spreading the facts and impact of bees with one other person, the word and value of their story travels far and wide. The tenet or principle of the six degrees of separation implies that we are all only six connections or people away from any other person in the world.

For example, person #1 knows six people that knows six people that knows six people, and so it continues with your 6/6 until you could plausibly connect with any one person on the planet if you reached out to your network.

In my life, bees taught me about patience, planning, caring for another entity, husbandry, the value of research, the vast and intricate workings of botany, woodworking, natural remedies and teaching others, uplifting communities and the pure joy of watching bees come and go at the end of a long week.

Having a bee hive in your small holding or property gives bees a safer home to live in, presumably without pesticide impact, and enables higher biodiversity over time for your local area resulting in some excess honey.

I wish you the same intrigue and bewildering engagement with your journey with bees and beekeeping. It does come with stings and sometimes bees leave and abscond. This is part of the course. Life happens.

And remember, bees are a living entity just being housed and managed by you but never owned by you... Just hosted by you with a view to sharing some delicious honey in exchange for living space and husbandry aid.