Could You Eat Your Favourite Food Without Bees?

Bees are under threat. Bothered? You should be. Take this quiz to see what bee pollination brings to the table. Let’s begin…

1. Could you eat an indulgent Bakewell tart without bees?

Via Flickr, Tim Regan

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No. We need bees to pollinate cherries and almonds. Without cherries and almonds Bakewell tarts are off the menu.

2. ...A delicious, filling burrito?

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No. Not a proper one anyway. We need bees for avocados, which we need for guacamole. Without guacamole your burrito would just be rice, cheese, meat and suchlike. Enjoy your heart attack wrap.

3. ...Gruel anyone?

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YES! This is just made of wind-pollinated cereals, such as wheat, and milk or water! GRUEL FOR EVERYONE.

4. ...A juicy, refreshing kiwi fruit, rich in potassium?

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No. You cannot eat kiwi fruit without bees. Sorry.

5. ...A plate of liver, washed down with a nice Chianti?

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YES! Liver is still on the menu. We do not need bees for liver.

6. ...A cold pint of cider?

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Nope. We need bees for apples. So no cider. No apple juice. No apple crumble. No apples at all, tbh.

7. ...A sickly, sticky shot of cheap apple liqueur?

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Yes. These aren’t made of real apples. Literally, knock yourself out.

8. ...A traditional, savoury French galette?

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No. These are made from buckwheat and bees are major buckwheat pollinators. No buckwheat noodles either for the gluten-free crowd.

9. ...A blueberry muffin?

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Ah, no. We need bees for blueberries. Sorry about that. No blueberry muffins. Don't worry, you won’t miss them.

10. ...Classic Greek tzatziki?

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No. Indeed no cucumbers at all. Not for you, your face, or your cat.

11. ...Wobbly, plastic hot dog sausages?

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YES! These have nothing to do with bees. They are usually made from mechanically recovered pork and chicken (leftover carcass smashed through a grid). There will still be lots of these around.

12. ...A luscious watermelon mojito?

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Sorry, it's a no. Bees are an essential pollinator for watermelons. No watermelon anything.

13. ...Fish paste?

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Yes. Bees don’t impact mashed fish too much. Mmm, fish paste.

14. ...Some mango lassi?

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No. We need bees for mangos.

15. ...Gin and tonic?

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Nope. We need bees to pollinate Cinchona, which makes quinine, which we use to flavour tonic water. Gin and tonics are out.

To conclude...

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...bees help pollinate ingredients for loads of great food and drink.

Other crops which rely entirely or heavily on bees include coriander, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, cardamom, fennel, apricots, plums, peaches, pears and raspberries.

Without bees, we could still eat gruel, liver, hot dog sausages and fish paste.

To find out how you can save our bees, check out Friends of the Earth's Bee Cause campaign.

By Charlie Alderwick

Thumbnail image: bee via cebix.net, burrito via Flickr, bloomsburys