Government at various levels have been urged to put measures in place that will enable the country to generate more income and employment through bee-keeping.
A lecturer in the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Ekiti State University, Professor Oluwayemisi Arowosoge gave the advice in an exclusive interview with Radio Nigeria in Ado-Ekiti to commemorate World Bee Day.
Speaking on this year’s theme ““Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agricultural production”, Professor Arowosoge emphasized that developed countries had equipments that helped them to derive various products from bee.
She identified such products as honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly, pollen and venom which are useful for pharmaceutical and industrial production, hence the need for the country to do the needful.
According to her, “Honey is used as sweetener, bee wax is used for candle, propolis for diabetic patients, royal jelly is used to solve infertility problems, while bee venom is used to treat inflammation”.
She noted that there are about twenty thousand various species of bees, stressing that Israel practised greenhouse farming with the use of bees, that resulted to more nutritious and bigger crops.
While noting that bee also helped to pollinate and balance the ecosystem, the Professor of Forest Economics urged people to desist from actions such as deforestation, bush burning and over usage of agro-chemical, that are inimical to existence of bees.
Since 2018, United Nations General Assembly has declared May 20 as World Bee Day, because of the roles they play in keeping people and the planet healthy.
By Lanre Omotoso
