Beekeeping stand 1oz .999 Silver Medal
 
Beekeeping is one of the oldest human activities. There are tens of thousands of beekeepers in the Czech Republic who care for hundreds of thousands of bee colonies. The Czech Mint's silver commemorative medal will bring joy not only to them.
 
Honey bees are an extremely useful species of insect. These industrious creatures have honey production embedded in their very name. The thick liquid they produce from collected nectar or honeydew serves as their food – a source of energy that enables them to survive the winter. However, other animals, such as bears, and of course humans, also like to feed on their hard work. Depictions of people collecting sweet treats from wild beehives can be found in cave paintings dating back 12,000 years. It is not clear when exactly humans decided to start keeping bees, but the first evidence of actual beekeeping dates back to 5,000 BC. In addition to honey, which is a valuable natural food and traditional folk remedy, bees also provide us with other useful products such as wax, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom. However, their role in the ecosystem of the entire planet is even more important. Their ability to pollinate greenery—agricultural crops and wild plants—is irreplaceable. Albert Einstein once said that when the bees die out, humanity will only survive for four years. Without pollination, there will be no harvest, and animals and humans will starve to death. Yet we take bees for granted and do not consider that they are disappearing from the world forever. Climate change, intensive farming, the use of chemicals, but also bacteria, mites and parasitic beetles are contributing to their decline.
 
The rich relief of the commemorative medal is the work of medal maker Jiří Hanuš, DiS. The obverse side is dominated by a fantastical scene: the sun shines in the sky in the form of a sunflower, honey drips from clouds that have the structure of honeycombs, and bees fly around. The reverse side is similar, depicting a beekeeper among beehives. Selected details of the silver relief are embellished with colouring.
 
Other human activities will be featured on the next medals in the series...