World Bee Day celebrated

NAHARLAGUN, May 20: The World Bee Day with the theme "Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees" was celebrated here at Oju Mission School, Pappu Nallah on Friday. The programme was organised by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in collaboration with the Oju Welfare Association (OWA).
Chetan Singh, SFURTI Project Officer, KVIC enlightened the gathering on the importance of celebrating World Bee Day, stating that celebrating the programme is one of the major activities of KVIC, which has separate directorate, and comes under forest based industry. He also stated that the Ministry of MSME has given them a task to accept the challenge "Sweet Kranti" which was launched in the year 2017-18.
However, he mentioned that the populations of bees are decreasing, and the major reason for the same is climate change. He further focused on the vulnerabilities and unique features of bees and production of honey. He informed, a bee travels about 153 kms just to prepare 450 gram of honey.
“Let’s get united and celebrate Bee Day every year, by praising all types of bees. Bees are essential for food security and maintaining balance in the food web and ecosystem….therefore, it is essential to protect and conserve them for the well-being of humans,” he said.
Earlier, OWA chairperson Ratan Anya and other staff from OMS, Women Helpline-181 and OWA accorded warm welcome to the officials of KVIC. Senior students presented a welcome song, which was followed by the keynote address from the OWA chief.
On the occasion, the KVIC distributed honey to the participants and expressed the importance of honey, which is culturally and environmentally prestigious in the society as the most promising pollinators and producers of food, honey, and medicinal products. The KVIC officials also gave away prizes to the winners of the drawing competition which was conducted on Thursday among the students of OMS.