On June 26, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the National High-quality Bee Products Science and Technology Innovation Alliance held the fourth session of Agricultural Science Open Day Activity on the theme of food and bees in the National Botanical Garden.

The Open Day has set up plentiful study tour activities in order to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, focus on the "Great Country", guarantee food security and help rural revitalization, exhibit the technological contributions of the Institute and expand social influence and scientific communication. The citizens attended the lectures on the origin of bees, the collection and protection of germplasm resources, bee biology, bee pollination and the development of Chinese beekeeping and other cutting-edge research in science and technology. In addition, they participated in rich activities including observing the living habits of bees, shaking honey, making small toys for popular science as well as visiting the National Bee Museum, etc.

Among these activities, the Bee Observation Box, Bumblebee Observation Box and Honey Shaker are the most popular. Visitors experienced the busy and orderly daily life of the big bee family closely and witnessed the chubby, furry "Internet celebrities" called bumblebees, who are distant relatives of bees and skillful at pollinating. At the same time, they had the opportunities to taste the nature honey shaked out of the hive by themselves.

Bees not only provide human beings with abundant products like honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis, but also act as indispensable pollinators for maintaining biodiversity in the ecosystem. 90% of fruit trees rely on bees for pollination. Besides, most of the food, cotton, oil and vegetables can be pollinated by bees to improve quality and yield.

The open day activities allowed the public to increase their knowledge about bees and learn more about bee industry research work, stimulated their interest in bee industry research, and improved scientific literacy. They also realized bees play an active role in improving the quality and yield of agricultural products, helping rural revitalization and satisfying the people's expectation for a better life.