Dominic George: Where would we be without bees?

September is bee month. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A third of all the food we eat is directly pollinated by nature’s best worker

I didn't realise until this week how important bees are to our existence.

I knew they had value in the food chain but my knowledge of the average honey bee was mostly gleaned from the Bee Movie starring Jerry Seinfeld as the voice of the main character. In fact, I'd hated them ever since the late 80s when one climbed up my wee white stubbies and thrust his stinger into my chubby thigh during Saturday morning cricket.

But September is bee awareness month and I've learned a thing or two thanks to Federated Farmers bees chairman John Hartnell, (yes, they have a bees chairman and to be fair, you can see why). Apparently, the reality is no bees mean no food and therefore no people. Simple as that. A third of the food all humans eat is directly pollinated by honeybees. It is the most indispensable creature in modern society.

So, the bee is clearly a useful and productive member of nature that ultimately makes our lives possible. That, of course, can't be said for everyone or everything. Take referees for example. As one of my old rugby coaches was fond of saying, "referees are always wrong". But really, what the hell has happened to referees at the top level? We've seen utterly shocking calls in rugby union and rugby league in recent weeks, the like of which you wouldn't see at school or club level.

Refs are always going to get little things wrong, but the problem is the howlers are ruining genuine contests. The problem seems to be endemic and it also appears the more technology and man-power at their disposal, the more they seem to cock things up.

Wearing pink doesn't help -- they look like they're show-boating. They have enough perception issues as it is with fans under the impression most refs think they're centre stage with the players cast in supporting roles in their unfolding drama. Unfortunately, a lot of the time we're watching a tragedy.

I wrote a few weeks ago that I also despise traffic wardens and TV programmers. Again, unlike the bee, they're genuine blights on civilisation and we could do without all of them. But we must also add touch judges to this list. At least referees have the excuse that they have to watch a multitude of scenarios play out in front of them and attempt to adjudicate accordingly. No such excuses for the common touchie. They have a few simple tasks to perform that most adolescents could cope with.

It may, in fact, be the boredom factor that makes them believe they have to make their presence felt in a game. A linesman will miss a forward pass or a foot in touch right in front of their eyes, but feel the need to tell a ref about a bit of slap and tickle they saw 40m away, five minutes earlier. Stick to your knitting lads.

I will address other unproductive and useless entities in future columns, such as people who can't drive, but in the interests of finding something positive to say, let us commend the humble honey bee.

Hartnell tells us that in China, much of its pear industry relies on pollination by human hand because the overuse of agricultural chemicals has made the land hostile to the honeybee.

My father and I used to line them up when I was younger and see how far we could hit them with a cricket bat when they interfered with a backyard cricket game. I'll think twice about doing that now.

• Dominic George hosts Farming First, 5am-6am weekdays on Radio Sport.