We were delighted to have our CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy on Corks 96 FM last week. Fiona spoke with PJ Coogan about the importance of the honey bee and their essential role in pollinating the foods we love such as almonds and avocados. You can listen to the full interview here. (starts at approx 1:18)
They discuss how honey bees are fundamentally important as pollinators. Honey bees fly from flower to flower to collect nectar to create honey and also spread pollen. CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy explains how pollination triggers the mechanism to help plants produce fruit, nuts, and some of our most nutritious foods such as blueberries, apples and pears ‘You don’t have pollinators you don’t get food out of those trees and bushes’
‘Try and think of a really nice brunch without bees, it becomes really difficult, no honey, no porridge’’
CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy also touched on the almond industry in California. ‘’80% of almonds we eat across the entire globe are produced there, every February they need around 2.6 million beehives in that area in order for those trees to produce any almonds at all’’.
‘’Every time your eating an almond, your eating something a honey bee gave you’’
CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy
When asked the most important thing we can do for all pollinators, CEO Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy gives some great tips on how to help our pollinators. We must make sure we have plenty of habitats, and food available for them by planting plants such as Crocuses which are in bloom right now. Fiona highlights how planting a tree is the best thing you can do for bees and other insects, birds and animals. Trees such as a holly tree and hawthorn tree gives nectar and pollen to the bees but a house and food to different animals and birds.
Learn more about how our monitors can help beekeepers understand their hives more here.