With World Bee Day and the Golden Bee Award, the Republic of Slovenia, as the initiator of projects, strives to transfer knowledge and technology and promote Slovenia in the world as a green, healthy, proactive, and innovative country. The Golden Bee Award encourages, supports, and reinforces the activities, innovation, and excellence of individuals or legal entities that have made a particularly significant contribution to the protection of bees and other pollinators and to raising global awareness of their importance.

The presenter of the award, the President of the Republic Nataša Pirc Musar, noted: "World Bee Day, celebrated for the seventh time today, is a success story. First of all, it is a great story about the success of beekeeping in Slovenia and Slovenian beekeepers. The initiative for World Bee Day should be credited to the Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association. Another great success story is the Golden Bee Award, which we will present today for the fourth time. The international Golden Bee Award raises broader awareness of the importance of bees and pollinators and encourages special achievements related to their protection.”

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Mateja Čalušić noted the importance of the award winner, The Wheen Bee Foundation Limited, in raising awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators: “Through its work, it promotes the awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators and addresses national and global threats to all pollinators. Its activities contribute to more reliable pollinator management and improve the resilience of the food production system.” The Golden Bee Award committee presented a certificate to the other nominee for the award, ITF Enhancing Human Security, which together with the Beekeeping Academy and the Organisation of Amputees of Banja Luka (UDAS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina implements the project "Beekeeping for people with disabilities with the aim of empowering mine victims from Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

This year, the Golden Bee Award committee picked the award winner from among proposals received from Slovenia (six proposals), the United Kingdom (two proposals) and Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Australia, Germany, Egypt, Greece and Kenya (one proposal each).

World Bee Day is celebrated today

By celebrating World Bee Day, we want to remind the general public that bees are exceptionally important for our survival on the planet and that they are at great risk in many countries and regions due to various causes, especially climate change. Bees need clean air and water and a clean environment in general. If we preserve the environment and make it easier for bees to survive, people will also live in a more beautiful and healthier environment. But the most important thing is for all of us to become aware again of the essential role that each individual plays in the preservation of bees and other pollinators.

Slovenia has already cemented its reputation in the world as a bee-friendly country, with beekeeping having been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and holding the title of the country with the most beekeepers per capita in the world and having its own bee species – the Carniolan honey bee, which is considered calm and very diligent.

With its ten-year tradition of celebrating the excellent produce from Slovenian farms, Slovenian Food Day, the traditional Slovenian and European honey breakfast and, last but not least, World Bee Day, Slovenia plays an important role in raising awareness among young generations about the importance of diversity of pollinators. We believe that our efforts are laying the groundwork for the young people who will shape the collective future of our planet once we slow down.

World Bee Day is also an excellent opportunity to highlight nature conservation, sustainable development and respect for natural resources, which are key to the health of our planet and future generations.

International forum “Bees for People, Planet and Peace"

The international forum “Bees for People, Planet and Peace”, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will start tomorrow in Ljubljana.

The international forum will connect representatives of governments and international organisations, experts, business executives and civil society in order to better utilise the potential of international cooperation in beekeeping and pollination to achieve the sustainable development goals, in particular food security, ecosystem restoration, empowerment of vulnerable social groups and strengthening of international stability and peace. It will be aimed at identifying needs and sharing experience gained in beekeeping and pollination projects around the world. The forum will also be an opportunity for in-depth dialogue and reflection.