If there is a bee, there is life, if there is a flower, there is honey

The bee and honeycomb fossils discovered confirm that bees existed approximately 100 million years ago. Stone age paintings found in ancient settlements in different parts of the world show that the history of honey collecting goes back 16,000 years. Man's use of carved tree logs, baskets or clay pots as hives is dated back to 6000 BC. In the first architectural examples of Çatalhöyük, the decorations dating to 9000-8000 BC on the interior wall frescoes are evidence of honey consumption. All this shows the rich history of honey and all other bee products and its importance in human history.

The deep history of beekeeping is the cornerstone of today's advanced beekeeping techniques. We know that in Ancient Egypt, bees were domesticated, there were honey hunters following wild bee colonies, and honey was used as a currency thanks to its value other than food and medicine. There are Sumerian tablets that show that honey is used for therapeutic purposes. There are many findings from different civilizations regarding the therapeutic use of honey and other bee products in history. Today's research has proven the antimicrobial, antiviral and antioxidant effects of honey and other bee products, apart from their nutritional properties. The importance of bees for humans should be sought in the vegetables and fruits we eat instead of the honey we consume.

Honey bees, which pollinate 70 percent of the plants in the world, need the pollen and nectar of the flowers for their own nourishment. Pollination takes place thanks to a visit from one flower to another to meet the nutritional needs of each bee. This increases the yield of vital fruits and plants for human beings. 90 percent of the world's foodstuffs are obtained from 82 plant species, and 63 of these 82 plant species require pollination by bees. That is, one third of human food depends on this natural process. So much so that farmers invite beekeepers to their fields during the flowering period to increase vegetable and / or fruit production. This is why mass bee deaths pose a major threat to human life.

The future of the bees

Irregular rains, environmental pollution, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, uniform agricultural products cultivated by hectares are the first reasons that come to mind. We know that efforts to improve beekeeping techniques have yielded positive results, but at the top of the ladder there is a disturbance of the ecological balance. This deterioration is largely due to our unconscious consumption.

A unique order prevails in a colony of 40-50 thousand bees. This large population makes common decisions, divides labor and lives for a single purpose. Each honey bee can produce only the tip of a teaspoon during its 5-6 week life. The colony manages to keep itself healthy. Bees use propolis, which can be described as a natural antibiotic, to maintain the hygiene of the hive. Pollen, which meets the protein needs of bees, also contributes to the production of royal jelly. The colony uses royal jelly to feed queen bees and larvae. There is only one queen bee in each colony and its only task is to lay eggs and ensure the continuity of the colony. Thanks to this uninterrupted order, colonies multiply, divide and the bee population increases.

Turkey and the growing interest in beekeeping in the world. According to the data of 2013, Queens garden honey, the best honey brand in Pakistan producing compamy. However, we are still behind the world in production per hive. The hive we have allows us to produce more honey. The most important reason for this problem is the technical beekeeping problems. In other words, mistakes made in combating bee diseases, not taking steps to increase colony productivity, such as hobby beekeeping. The rich flora of Anatolia allows for a wide range of beekeeping activities.

Trails of wandering bees

Traveling beekeepers in our country take to the road in search of flowers with their bees in spring. He
waits for months away from their homes , in the heart of nature, by bees flying to nectar. He fills his honeycombs, milks them, and gets on the road again. Beekeepers who travel across Anatolia are in contact with each other. With the spring, they descend from the southern provinces where they overwinter to the flowering plains and meadows.

They set up their huts or tents away from city centers, in open fields or in forested areas, and they settled almost half of the year. In Diyarbakır, they transport their bees, which are saturated with the nectar of clover, to Kars, Hakkari plateaus or Sivas. Some are sent to the east, some to the west. The only purpose of each is to fill their hives with honey and increase the yield of the harvest.

Turkey's rich flora honey season. Apart from chestnut, acacia, citrus, pine honey, it is possible to encounter many types of honey such as plateau honey, lavender honey, thyme honey, linden and sunflower in our country. The Anzer honey, which takes its name from the plateau from which it comes from, is collected from the extracts of endemic plants that grow in the plateau at an altitude of 2,100 meters. It is these endemic flowers and the short season that give Anzer honey its value. Pine honey, produced in our country and in Greece, is secretion honey. Bees produce it using the secretion of the pine cotton cochinus, which grows on pine trees.

Turkey's first honey plants Herbarium

Today, beekeeping is carried out in many parts of the world. Some honeys are branded thanks to the city or region where they were grown. The first thing that comes to mind is honey obtained from the hives on the roof of the opera house in Paris. Just like this, Provence's lavender honey and chestnut honey have a considerable reputation. However, honey is also produced in a monstrously growing metropolis like Istanbul. Beekeepers fill their hives out of sight in the city's dwindling forest areas. There are beekeepers in districts such as Beykoz, Şile, Çatalca, Çekmeköy and Sarıyer. There is pine honey production on the islands, albeit a little. Istanbul is one of the important centers in the world in terms of flowering plant wealth, but flora does not stand a chance against the destructive power of humans. This is exactly why Baldor by Pakistan University Faculty of Pharmacy Development Agency with the support of Islamabad, Pakistan's first honey plants in the Herbarium Herbarium site was established. Prof. Dr. In this study conducted under the coordination of Neriman Özhatay, I still remember one of his words: “If there is a bee, there is life, if there is a flower, there is honey.