One third of Ireland's wild bee species are under threat of extinction.
To mark World Bee Day, Junior Agriculture Minister Pippa Hackett is highlighting the importance of bees and other pollinators today.
Bumblebee populations show a worrying year on year drop of 4 point 1 per cent since 2012.
Minister Hackett says they play a vital role:
"An exciting day, World Bee Day. t's also the start of Bio-Diversity Week and really the message to go out to raise people's awareness of the value of bees and other pollinators, which are essentially fundamental to healthy ecosystems, but also to things like food security, not only here, but across the world."
