Bees, Food and Education: Lessons from Beechworth Honey

A recent visit to Beechworth Honey offered a powerful reminder of just how deeply our food system depends on bees — and how much we can do to support them.

One of the most striking insights came from their educational work on food security. In Australia, around two-thirds of agricultural production of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds relies on honeybee pollination. Without bees, much of the colourful, nutritious food we take for granted would simply not exist.

To make this relationship easier to understand, educator Jodie Goldsworthy developed a “Bee Rating” guide that shows how dependent different foods are on honeybee pollination. Some of the results are surprising. Apples, almonds, avocados, carrots and onions are all highly dependent on honeybees — so much so that without them, these crops would fail to produce viable seed for future planting.

Other foods sit further along the spectrum. Coffee, for example, has a moderate reliance on pollinators, but both yield and quality improve significantly when bees are present. Capsicum, oranges, chestnuts and tomatoes also benefit from pollination, producing better harvests when bee activity is strong.

Even the humble cucumber tells a bee story: irregular or oddly shaped cucumbers can be a sign that flowers have not received enough visits — ideally around 7 to 12 bee visits per flower for proper pollination.

Beechworth Honey has taken this concept one step further by creating a Bee Rating menu in its kitchen garden, where dishes are labelled according to the pollination dependence of their ingredients. It’s a simple but effective way of showing how bees quietly underpin so much of what we eat every day.

This work strongly echoes our “Keep the Global Hive Alive” project, which uses art and education to highlight the diversity of foods dependent on honeybee pollination. The project has even been shared publicly in Beechworth, where it drew strong engagement and curiosity from passers-by.

It also connects with the Australian Curriculum-aligned “Love Food? Love Bees!” Year 5/6 integrated unit — a free educational resource that helps students explore the importance of bees and take practical, bee-friendly action in their communities. The unit includes hands-on activities, videos, teaching resources and assessment ideas, supported by an extensive digital library of bee-related learning materials. The Cool Australia Toolbox also provides further resources for educators looking to bring sustainability into the classroom.

Simple actions can make a real difference at home too. In hot weather, placing a shallow bowl of water with stones allows bees to safely land and drink while helping cool the hive. And as autumn approaches, it’s an ideal time to plant with pollinators in mind, adding food and habitat sources that will support bees year-round.

After recent rainfall across many regions, there is hope that local bee populations are thriving and finding abundant forage.

Above all, the Beechworth Honey experience is a reminder that supporting bees is not just about conservation — it is about protecting the foundation of our food system. From classroom learning to kitchen gardens and backyard planting, every action adds up to a healthier, more resilient “global hive”.

Wishing everyone a year filled with time outdoors, connection to nature, and appreciation for the small creatures that make so much of our food possible.