By Faith Railey, 2026 Sunbelt Ag Expo Social Media Intern
What would the world look like without bees? Just imagine your favorite fruit, like apples, or any other food, disappearing. The dinner table would look empty, with less fruit, vegetables, and nuts available. Over time, fewer animal products, such as beef, would follow.
Bees are a small but essential part of agriculture, sustaining life. Bees pollinate crops, making them a cornerstone in agriculture and natural resources. They not only pollinate crops but support wild plant and animal life. Without bees, the world would lack biodiversity, ecosystem balance, and most importantly, food.
Bees pollinate plants; plants feed and shelter wildlife; wildlife keeps the landscape healthy. Without plants, animals lose their habitats. These natural habitats keep our landscapes diverse and improve resilience to weather and disease. Like a web, bees are essential in maintaining our natural resources and the beautiful landscapes of rural Georgia.
At the Sunbelt Ag Expo, bees are not overlooked in the showcase of innovative agriculture. On the expo grounds, visitors can find an on-site garden along with bee hives that demonstrate the interconnected cycle of life. Bees buzz around stacked wooden boxes containing frames. These individual boxes can be individual or stacked.
These bee hives are a prime example of how honey producers’ hives may look. Across Georgia, some honey producers provide pollination services with their hives to farmers. During bloom each season, they move hives from field to field, so crops receive the pollination they need. This pollination ensures producers maintain a healthy crop, in turn producing a variety of honey.
Bees also make a variety of useful byproducts after pollinating. The honey itself changes flavor depending on the forage they have been pollinating. Beeswax and honeycombs can be turned into consumer-ready products like candles, lip balm, raw honey, and honeycombs.
A world with bees is full of color, beautiful Georgia landscapes, and wildlife all around. Throughout the week, look for local honey producers on the grounds who sell products from their own operations. You will not only be supporting honey producers but also Georgia agriculture.
