7 billion bees missing

The disappearance of honeybees affects not only human diets but also entire ecosystems. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, honeybees contribute to the pollination of 71 out of the top 100 crops that account for 90% of the world's food supply.

If honeybees go extinct, crops like avocados, grapefruits, berries, cucumbers, and lentils—essential for a variety of salads—would disappear. Moreover, the disappearance of honeybees would lead to changes in plant habitats, impacting the entire food chain as birds that feed on bees would also vanish. Recently, there has been confirmation of mass disappearance of honeybees in Korea.

According to the Korean Beekeeping Association, as of March 2nd this year, out of 2,276,593 beehives nationwide, 395,170 have suffered damage. According to the Rural Development Administration, about 15,000 individuals live in each beehive entering winter. Calculating this, approximately 6 billion honeybees have disappeared nationwide. While various causes are being considered, climate change is one of them. The early activity of honeybees, followed by a temporary drop in temperature, caused them to die collectively as they couldn't return to the beehive.

Samuel Myers, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and his team stated in the 2015 international journal 'Lancet' that if honeybees were to disappear, one year alone could see 1.42 million hectares of people die due to famine and malnutrition.

Now, it is crucial to protect honeybees.