Honey bees may be small, but without them, your grocery list would be a lot shorter.

No more berries, avocados or even coffee.

Alongside butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, bees pollinate nearly 90% of the world's wild flowering plants and over 35% of the food crops we rely on.

World Bee Day, marked every May 20, honours these vital pollinators and celebrates Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern beekeeping.

Janša saw bees as the noblest of insects, an idea now backed by science.