As children, the word, "bees" spread fear and signified the presence of enemies. We saw bees as a battalion of soldiers that should be fought against or run away from. We were ignorant, not knowing the bees were/are friends to be cherished.
In a way, we may be excused because the wild bees we knew were ferocious fighters that could demobilize a man, no matter how strong with their stings.
We knew Mazi Uche, the palm wine tapper that was almost stung to death by a swarm of bees. He had gone to tap his wine that fateful morning when he was attacked by the bees. He fell down from that palm tree when he couldn't fight them off. His lips and eyelids were swollen up to five folds. He couldn't even open his eyes to see. The man was a sorry sight to look at.
You know, bees like palm wine, and they usually go to sip it from the pot used in tapping. In fact, we usually see many dead bees that were drowned inside the wine which he will sieve out before selling the wine.
Our elders had warned us of the dangers of bees, telling us to always squat or, lie flat on the ground when we hear the buzzing sound of a swarm of bees approaching to let them fly pass. But, if we see a lonely bee, we either made sure we killed it or run away.
Apart from the attack from we the ignorant ones, another problem facing the bees is wild fire that destroys them, including their hives.
In general, I see the major problem facing the bees as ignorance. Unenlightened people don't even know that bees are the most active pollinators of flowers because of their high energy and vibrancy.
It's pollination that leads to fertilization which provide animals, including mankind with seeds and fruits. Can we imagine a world without seeds and fruits?
So, an enlightenment campaign is needed for people to know the importance of bees, and begin to see them as friends to be pampered, and never as enemies.
Also, a way should be worked out to control bush burning. If a portion of a cut down vegetation has to be burned, it has to be well demarcated so the fire doesn't cross the delineated area.
With these, we shall have the population of bees protected so that we can continue to benefit from the positive effects of the bees' activities.
