Bees are Humanity’s Savior | Bee Tour Crete | Elissos Experiences
In this article, we will dive into why bees are important for the environment. Additionally, we will have a closer look at how they are related to Crete. The Ancient Cretans, thousands of years ago, understood their significance and usefulness. Finally, we will present how we can help educate any traveler who wants to learn more!
Learn how to Save the Bees, to Save the World!
Food is a necessity to take care of the world’s population that is continuously increasing. Naturally, it must contain various elements, and of high quality in order to guarantee the advancement and prosperity of mankind.
How Humanity relies on Pollination
Honeybees are well-known for their job in producing top–notch food such as honey, royal jam, and pollen. As a matter of fact, they produce ingredients utilized in cosmetics and healthcare like beeswax, propolis, honeybee venom.
The most considerable contribution of pollinators is the fertilization of almost 75% of the plants that produce 90% of the world’s food. A staggering 33% of the world’s food creation relies upon honeybees!
In recent years, the measure of harvests that rely upon pollinators. For example, natural products, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and oil seeds have significantly increased. In fact, honey bees assume a significant part in agriculture. In particular, successful fertilization expands the measure of agrarian produce, improves its quality, and upgrades plants’ protection from bugs.
Furthermore, plants that rely upon pollination constitute a significant source of income to farmers. Specifically, in developing nations where millions of jobs can be provided to people in need. Worldwide studies led in 2016 by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, demonstrate that the yearly universal creation of food that relies straightforwardly upon fertilization was worth somewhere in the range of $235 and $577 billion!
The Importance of Honey Bees
To emphasize, honey bees are imperative for the conservation of environmental parity and biodiversity in nature. They provide one of the most important ecosystem services, for example, pollination, which makes food creation achievable. Consequently, they secure and preserve ecosystems, animals, and plant species, and add to genetic and biotic diversity.
Moreover, honey bees operate as indicators of the condition of the environment. Their existence, nonexistence, or amount reveals to us when something is going on with the earth and that a proper plan is required. Therefore, by examining the turn of events and the well-being of honey bees, it is feasible to determine changes in the environment and implement the essential careful steps in time.
So how does Crete fit in?
One of the most meaningful displays of the Museum of Heraklion, the Museum that is home to a large portion of the distinguished unrevealed facts of the popular Minoan Civilization, is an admirable brilliant jewel, “Two Bees” which are supposed to be enamored with one another. This Bee Pendant the most dependable declaration of the association between the Cretan individuals and the honey bee.
The honey bee assumed a focal role in the Minoan and Mycenaean Civilization. Beekeeping was a Minoan specialty, that produced matured nectar drink mead, that is even older than wine! The bee was considered to be a sacred insect that also could connect the world of the living to the underworld. Additionally, the honeybee was the symbol of the Minoan-Mycenaean Goddess Potnia, or “The Pure Mother Bee“ as she is also called. Her priestesses, as well, were given the name Melissa, signifying “honeybee”.
What can Elissos offer?
At Elissos, we pride ourselves for offering various diverse travel experiences that are simultaneously fun and educational!
If you want to dive into the fascinating cosmos of bees, our Magic Bee World tour is the one for you! In this exciting tour, you have the opportunity to visit a local apiary. Once you are there, find out about the delicious and ancient history of honey, as well as the process of honey production. Your host for the day is a local beekeeper and honey producer, so you gather up all your questions! and prepare for a very interesting discussion with the expert!
Explore one of our sweetest tours! Start from the traditional village of Assites, where you will get familiar with the traditional lifestyle of Crete today. The History, Tradition and Folk Arts Tour is an amazing way to get an authentic taste of Crete’s culture. Visit the local Honey Workshop where you will learn all about the honey processing and production and try local thyme honey. After a fun day of tastings and cooking with locals, it is time to head back to your accommodation. You may reflect on what it means to live like a Cretan? How does their culture resemble yours?
The King of our classical tours, the Knossos Palace and Heraklion Archaeological Museum tour. This private guided tour, is one of the main reasons thousands of tourists flock to Crete each year. Knossos is a significant archaeological site in Crete and worldwide. This is what makes this experience a must-do! It is also a golden opportunity for you to witness the Bee Pendant displayed at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. This amazing visit, covers over 3000 years of history in the most interactive manner!