World Bee Day - May 20, UN observance raising pollinator awareness since 2017
World Bee Day on May 20 is a UN observance established in 2017 to raise awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators for food security. The date marks the birth of Anton Janša, the 18th-century Slovenian pioneer of modern beekeeping. Each year has an annual theme. Not a public holiday.
International observancePublished October 15, 2026
- Observed in
- UN
- When
- May
- Frequency
- Same date every year
- Days off
- Varies by country
- Public status
- Varies by country; consult local government gazette
World Bee Day is a UN observance held every May 20. Established by the UN General Assembly in 2017, it raises awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators for food security and biodiversity. FAO leads global programming. The day is awareness-focused, not a public holiday.
The one-line summary
UN observance on May 20. Established 2017. Covers bees and other pollinators; 35% of world crop production depends on pollination. FAO leads programming. Not a public holiday.
Origin and history
The UN General Assembly proclaimed World Bee Day on December 20, 2017 through Resolution 72/211, on the proposal of Slovenia and with the support of the FAO, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the UNEP. The proposal had been developed by the Slovenian Beekeeping Association (since 2014) and was first championed in multilateral fora at the 2016 FAO Council.
The choice of May 20 honoured Anton Janša (1734-1773), the Slovenian polymath whose 1768 work “Discussion on Beekeeping” laid the foundations of modern apiculture. Janša was born on May 4, 1734 in a Carniolan village; the choice of May 20 (the day of his confirmation rather than birth) reflects the centrality of his work to the proposal. Slovenia has 11,000+ active beekeepers for a population of 2.1 million - among the highest per-capita rates in the world.
Bees and the broader pollinator web
When most people think of pollinators, the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) comes to mind. But the world has an estimated 20,000 wild bee species, alongside flies, butterflies, moths, beetles, bats, and birds. The FAO estimates that 75% of the world’s flowering plants and 35% of food crops depend to some extent on animal pollination.
Wild bees (especially bumblebees, solitary bees, and sweat bees) often provide more pollination per flower visit than honeybees. A single hectare of apple orchard requires roughly 2 million bee visits to set a full crop. Wild pollinators are increasingly studied as a more resilient foundation for agricultural pollination than managed honeybees alone.
Threats to bees
Pollinators face multiple stressors. Habitat loss from monoculture agriculture and urban sprawl removes nesting sites and forage. Pesticide exposure - particularly neonicotinoids - has been linked in multiple studies to bee mortality, navigation failure, and immune suppression. The EU has banned outdoor application of three neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam) since 2018, with limited emergency authorisations allowed.
Climate change compounds these stressors: warmer winters reduce bee dormancy periods, mismatches emerge between bee emergence times and flowering peaks, and drought reduces nectar availability. The Varroa destructor mite - an ectoparasite of the European honeybee - has spread globally since the 1950s and remains a major vector of viral diseases including deformed wing virus.
Annual themes
FAO publishes a theme for World Bee Day each year. Recent themes include “Bee Engaged: Celebrating the Diversity of Bees and Beekeeping Systems” (2023, marking the first formal FAO observance under its new pollinator strategy), “Bee Engaged with Youth” (2024), and “Stand for the Climate-Resilient Future We Want” (2025). The 2026 theme focuses on “Bees and the Food Systems Transformation,” aligning with the UN Food Systems Summit follow-up.
Slovenia’s beekeeping tradition
Slovenia has the highest per-capita beekeeper rate in the European Union, with an estimated 11,000 beekeepers for 2.1 million people. The Carniolan honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica) is native to the region and is exported worldwide as a productive and gentle subspecies. Beekeeping was added to Slovenia’s national curriculum in 2017, with primary schools incorporating hive management and pollination education.
The Slovenian Beekeeping Association operates the Beekeeping Museum in Radovljica, which houses the world’s largest collection of painted beehive panels (panjske konànice). The painted panels are UNESCO-listed intangible cultural heritage (2022). Slovenian beekeepers also operate the “Slovenian Honey Breakfast” programme, in which every primary school child receives a honey-focused lesson and breakfast each November.
The economy of pollination
The FAO and IPBES estimate the global value of pollination services to crop production at $235-577 billion annually, depending on methodology. The almond industry alone depends on commercial pollination services: California’s 2.6 billion-pound almond crop requires the migration of more than 1.5 million honeybee hives from across the US each February.
Beyond direct crop pollination, pollinators support forage crops for livestock (clover, alfalfa), fibres (cotton, flax), and medicinal plants. The economic dependence creates financial exposure to pollinator decline: a 2021 study estimated that pollinator decline could reduce global crop output by 8% and increase food prices by 12-31%, with the largest effects on fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Policy responses
Major policy responses to pollinator decline include: the EU 2018 ban on outdoor neonicotinoid use; the EU 2024 Nature Restoration Law, which requires member states to reverse pollinator declines by 2030; the US Farm Bill pollinator habitat provisions; the UK’s National Pollinator Strategy (since 2014); and Canada’s Bee Health Roundtable. The 2016-2019 IPBES Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production is the most comprehensive global scientific synthesis.
At the consumer level, pollinator-friendlier choices include buying certified organic produce where possible, supporting pesticide-restriction advocacy, planting pollinator-friendly native flowers, and supporting the work of organisations like the Xerces Society (US), Buglife (UK), or local beekeeping associations. The Slovenia-style “Slovenian Honey Breakfast” school programme has been adopted in modified forms in Austria, Croatia, and several other countries.
How to verify and primary sources
The authoritative source for World Bee Day is the FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division, which hosts the central observance at FAO headquarters in Rome. The IPBES 2016 Assessment Report on Pollinators is the authoritative scientific synthesis. Country-level data come from national beekeeping associations and agricultural census reports. The UN Resolution 72/211 is available on the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library website.