Bees are the backbone of human society. By transferring pollen, they help plants and food to grow. But The Bee Movie was no joke. With rampant pesticides and climate change, their numbers are dwindling rapidly.
That's why Papa John's has created the "beeza" to support our furry insect friends. The tiny pies are one inch in diameter and provide the bugs with some essential nutrients. So while they feature a traditional passata base, they're also topped with wildflowers, a sprinkling of Forget Me Nots, Rose Geraniums, pollen, rosemary and thyme, all to help sustain these little suckers for a hot minute. Yummy, no?
The miniature product was the brain child of both Papa John's and Thom Whitchurch of Britain’s first tiny cookery school. Though you can't buy it, the pizza chain is making an effort to give you other opportunities to support the bees.
Papa John's is giving out wildflower seeds on social media so you can help to create more pollen sources. Also, from July 15 to September 1, customers can donate to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust with change from their orders.
If that wasn't enough, they're also advertising with the Bee Sting pizza, which they launched yesterday. The pie features a spicy Amarillo chilli base and is topped with pepperoni, mozzarella, green chilli and honey.
This idea stemmed from the fact that pizza would not exist without bees' help. Darryl Cox, Senior Science and Policy Officer of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust said:
"It may seem hard to believe, but without bumblebees, there would be no pizza. Tomato plants hold their pollen in extremely tight structures and literally need a bumblebee to buzz the pollen out to fertilise the flowers. This free-bee service means we can produce enough tomatoes to satisfy the global demand for pizza and other tomato-based products."
Giles Codd, UK Marketing Director for Papa John's agreed that we should be doing more to support the bees, saying:
"Bees are fundamental to the making of pizzas, so we wanted to give them a slice of the action and create one perfect for them whilst raising awareness of the well-publicised issue of declining bee populations both here in the UK and across the globe. We hope the new Bee Sting pizza, goes down as well with our customers as the ‘Beezza’ did with the bees."
Well, the bees seem to love their new, nutritious food source. These little buggers deserve a treat for all the hard work they've done for us.