Slovenia's initiative of making May 20 being declared as The World Honeybee Day by the UN is in full swing and approaching completion as the 40th festival of Slovenian beekeepers got under way in Celje, the fairground in central Slovenia on Saturday.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar delivered the opening address at the event noting that beekeepers had contributed to the raising of awareness about Slovenian achievements with their World Honeybee Day initiative.

After the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) backed the Slovenian bid in December, FAO is expected to give the initiative the green light at the 40th FAO Conference in July.

This is considered the final step before the UN General Assembly can endorse the bid with a resolution. The UN is expected to discuss the initiative in the second half of the year.

Slovenia's Minister of Agriculture Dejan Zidan, meanwhile launched on Friday the website www.worldbeeday.org, where people can get information about Slovenia's bid and beekeepers' associations from around the world will be able to exchange their visions about beekeeping once World Honeybee Day is declared.

Cerar, moreover, promised full government support for the 2021 Apimondia congress of the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations to be held in Celje. He added that Slovenia would issue next year a collector's coin with the image of honeybee.

source: Xinhua