MOUNT Pleasant Farmers' Market is encouraging shoppers to wear yellow on Saturday, May 22 to show their support for bees - Australia's hard working pollinators.
"Three quarters of our food diversity is pollinated to some degree by bees" said Farmers' Market manager Genevieve Hebart.
"Put simply, we wouldn't have farmers' markets without bees, so it is important to acknowledge and protect them".
About one in every three mouthfuls of food we eat is pollinated by bees. Pollinator dependent crops affect 35 per cent of global agricultural land and support the production of 87 of the world's leading food crops.
"As keystone pollinators, bees are essential to our lives," says bee-dedicated Australian charity Wheen Bee Foundation chief executive officer Fiona Chambers.
"They play a crucial role for our food security and diversity, and they underpin biodiversity and ecosystem health".
The European honey bee is the most widespread managed pollinator in the world. The vast majority of pollinator species however are wild, including more than 20,000 species of bee. Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and home to more than 10pc of global native bee diversity.
"Australia's farmers' markets are proud to support World Bee Day 2021 and help grow awareness of the vital role bees play in our food system," said Australian Farmers' Markets Association acting chairperson Jane Adams.
"AFMA salutes all the farmers' markets that have pledged to celebrate World Bee Day, yet another way the vibrant farmers' market network can support healthy food systems and healthy communities."
Mt Pleasant Farmers' Market is inviting all shoppers and stallholders to wear yellow at their World Bee Market Day.
There will be children and adult bee information sessions that will discuss life in the hive and the benefits of both bees and their honey.
A free bee flight path trail will be marked out for children, while there will also be a roving bee performer, demonstrations on how to make bees wax wraps, opportunities to talk to a variety of beekeepers, touch and feel a non-populated hive, see a smoking suit and see a live real working hive.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Sign up here to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
