Dr Fiona Foley’s sculpture of three native honey bees in Public Artwork for Cato Square [featured below] not only recognises how crucially important bees are as pollinators within the Australian and global ecosystem but their historical importance as a food source for Indigenous Australians.
The vital role of bees in contributing to poverty alleviation and hunger eradication as well as preserving a healthy environment is recognised annually with World Bee Day, 20 May. The day provides an opportunity for every one of us to promote actions that will protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats, improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping.
World Bee Day is also premiering a global viewing of the Waggle Dance Challenge, the result of an attempt to achieve 20,000 ‘waggle dance for World Bee Day’ videos, from 20 countries, in 20 days.
Supporting Dr Foley’s artwork, the following snapshot of open access research, held in Griffith Research Online, is contributing to the research around bee-friendly environments, especially urban green space:
Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments
Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change
Applications of RFID technology on the study of bees
Tracking Bees – A 3D, outdoor small object environment
The conservation value of urban green space habitats for Australian native bee communities
Public Artwork for Cato Square
Visit Griffith Research Online to discover more research.
