About World Bee Day
World Bee Day is observed on 20 May, and in 2027 it falls on Thursday, 20 May 2027. The UN General Assembly adopted it in 2017 on a proposal from Slovenia, and the first was held in 2018. The date is the birthday of Anton Janša, an eighteenth-century Slovenian beekeeper. The Food and Agriculture Organization runs the day.
Honey is the smaller half of what bees do. The bigger half is pollination, and in India that shows up as mustard yields in Rajasthan, litchi in Muzaffarpur, apple in Kinnaur, coffee in Chikkamagaluru and almost every vegetable in between.
Why is World Bee Day on 20 May?
World Bee Day is on 20 May because that is the birthday of Anton Janša, born in 1734 at Breznica in what is now Slovenia. He taught beekeeping in Vienna and wrote some of the first practical manuals on it, which is why beekeepers treat him as the founder of modern apiculture.
Slovenia proposed the day, backed by Apimondia, the international federation of beekeepers' associations. The UN General Assembly adopted it in 2017 and the first observance was in 2018. The FAO coordinates it and announces a theme each year; the theme for 2026 was "Bee together for people and the planet: A partnership that sustains us all".
Which bees does India actually have?
India is unusual in having several honey bee species living side by side, only two of which are kept in boxes. Knowing which one you are looking at decides what you should do about it.
| Bee | Common name | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Apis dorsata | Rock bee or giant honey bee | Huge single combs under cliffs, water tanks and tall buildings; not kept in hives, honey is gathered from the wild |
| Apis cerana indica | Indian hive bee | The native bee kept in wooden boxes; gentle, gives roughly 8 to 10 kg a season |
| Apis florea | Little bee | Small combs on bushes and hedges; tiny yields, an important wild pollinator |
| Apis mellifera | Italian or European bee | Introduced through Punjab Agricultural University in the 1960s; the mainstay of commercial beekeeping |
| Tetragonula iridipennis | Stingless bee, cheruthen in Kerala | Kept in log or box hives for a sour honey used in ayurveda; a strong pollinator of small flowers |
Honey bees are not the whole story. Carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, blue-banded bees, flies, butterflies, bats and birds all pollinate. Some Indian crops depend almost entirely on wild insects, which is why an orchard surrounded by scrub often fruits better than one surrounded by more orchard.
What is India doing about bees?
The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission was launched in 2020 under what the government calls the Sweet Revolution, run through the National Bee Board. It has two arms: one to raise crop yields through pollination with managed hives, and one to handle what comes after the harvest, including processing, testing and marketing.
Migratory beekeeping is now common. Keepers move hives by truck to follow the flow: mustard in the plains through winter, litchi in north Bihar around April, sunflower and coriander later, and up to the apple belts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir for the spring bloom. Orchard owners increasingly pay for hives to be parked in their fields. India exports around 80,000 tonnes of honey a year, with the United States as the largest buyer.
There is an older tradition too. Honey hunters among the Kurumba of the Nilgiris and the Jenu Kuruba of Karnataka, whose name means honey people, climb to rock bee combs on cliffs with smoke and rope ladders. Several of these communities now sell through cooperatives that insist on leaving part of the comb intact.
How to help bees, and what to write
Small things in a garden or on a balcony do more than they sound like they should.
Do
- Grow flowers that bloom at different times: tulsi, curry leaf, drumstick, coriander left to flower, marigold, sunflower
- Keep a shallow dish of water with pebbles in it through summer so bees can drink without drowning
- Spray pesticide, if you must, after sunset when bees are back in the hive, never on open flowers
- Buy honey from a local keeper or cooperative and ask what the bees were foraging on
Avoid
- Avoid clearing every weed and hedge; wild bees nest in bare soil, hollow stems and old walls
- Avoid smoking out or spraying wild combs yourself
- Avoid systemic insecticides on flowering plants in a kitchen garden
Happy World Bee Day. Wishing you a strong flow, calm colonies and not a single absconding swarm this season.
On World Bee Day, may your field be humming when it flowers. The yield difference is real, and you can hear it.
Happy World Bee Day. Your tulsi is feeding half the bees on the street. Please don't prune it this month.
Happy Bee Day. One spoon of honey is the work of a lot of bees and a lot of flowers. Go count how many visit the drumstick tree.
Happy World Bee Day. Every fruit in the office canteen fruit bowl got there because of an insect nobody paid.
Happy World Bee Day. You don't have to like them up close. Just don't let anyone spray the hive on the terrace.
Nearby days on this site: International Day for Biological Diversity two days later on 22 May, World Environment Day on 5 June, and National Farmers' Day on 23 December.
How to wish someone on World Bee Day
Bee Day messages work best when they are about food. Nearly everything on an Indian plate that is not a cereal owes something to a pollinator, so a wish that names a fruit or a crop lands better than one about saving bees in general. For beekeepers and farmers, ask about the season, the flow and the swarm, not just the honey.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is World Bee Day in 2026 and 2027?
World Bee Day is on 20 May every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is World Bee Day in 2027?
World Bee Day 2027 falls on Thursday, 20 May 2027.
Why is World Bee Day celebrated on 20 May?
World Bee Day is on 20 May because it is the birthday of Anton Janša, born in 1734 in Slovenia, who taught beekeeping in Vienna and wrote early manuals on it. Slovenia proposed the day and the UN General Assembly adopted it in 2017, with the first observance in 2018.
How many kinds of honey bee are found in India?
India has four native honey bee species plus one introduced and one stingless bee commonly kept. They are the rock bee, the Indian hive bee, the little bee, the Himalayan giant bee, the imported Italian bee, and the stingless bee known in Kerala as cheruthen.
Which bee is kept in hives in India?
Two species are kept in boxes: the native Indian hive bee, Apis cerana indica, which gives about 8 to 10 kg of honey a season, and the introduced Italian bee, Apis mellifera, which yields more and is used for most commercial beekeeping. Rock bees and little bees cannot be hived.
What is the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission?
The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission is an Indian government scheme launched in 2020 and run through the National Bee Board. It funds scientific beekeeping to raise crop yields through pollination and supports processing, testing and marketing of honey and other hive products.
What should I do about a beehive on my balcony or building?
Call a bee rescuer rather than spraying or burning it. Most Indian cities have people who relocate colonies for a small fee and keep the honey. Spraying kills thousands of pollinators and can leave a large rock bee colony agitated for days.
What can I plant to help bees in India?
Plants that flower over a long stretch and are easy to grow: tulsi, curry leaf, drumstick, coriander and fenugreek left to bolt, marigold, sunflower and any flowering creeper. Leaving one patch of ground unpaved also helps, because many wild bees nest in bare soil.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .