Organic baby and toddler food brand Organix has partnered with German organization HoneyBee Online Studies (HOBOS) for the Bee Careful initiative to help better understand the problems affecting bee colonies around the world.
The goal of the group-wide project, which involves many of Organix’s sister companies within the Hero Group, is to improve bee health and increase the bee population.
Organix is leading the UK’s first involvement in the project in partnership with Helga and David Aldersey, members of Bournemouth and Dorset South Beekeepers Association, and Bournemouth University.
New hives and equipment have been set up on the University campus linked to high tech monitoring equipment that captures live images and data on bee activity and health. By installing cameras and motion and environmental sensors in the hive and fitting microchips to some of the bees, they will be able to see how bees live in a typical urban environment.
The data is providing insights on bee behaviour, such as how they conserve energy and generate heat in the winter.
“We’re excited to be contributing to such a fascinating and important study,” says Stephen Stones, sustainability manager at Organix. “Projects like this are a crucial way to protect our precious bees and the Organix team have been delighted to taste fresh, local honey.”
Professor Jurgen Tautz, a leading bee expert leading the HOBOS study, adds: “Our partnership with Organix and Bournemouth University is an important step forward for HOBOS as the data collected will be extremely valuable. We have developed an online portal documenting the behaviour of the honeybee that can be shared with educational institutions around the world. Our very future depends on the sustainable treatment of the biosphere. By observing this living super organism, a key organism for many ecosystems and for agriculture, different aspects of the honeybee’s behaviour, ecology and agriculture can be understood.”
