Beeconnected

"BeeConnected" is a unique project in the field of urban ecology that deals with renting and maintaining hives for socially responsible companies, individuals or other entities that have the desire and necessary prerequisites to build an apiary in their area with our professional help and maintenance. This model of beekeeping is recognized in many developed urban areas as a good way to enrich local biodiversity, but also as a socially responsible campaign that attracts public attention and sensitizes it to environmental problems. In cooperation with the Heinrich Boll Stiftung - Belgrade Representative Office, we organized the School of Urban Beekeeping, which had over a hundred students in three years. 
Although the awareness of how much man has endangered the natural ecosystem and the survival of many species, including bees, is growing, we felt that not enough is still being done to eliminate the causes that threaten our environment and biodiversity. As the source of food for bees and other pollinators has become limited due to monocultural agriculture and high amounts of pesticides, we have noticed the great potential that lies in the still rich biodiversity of our capital and the green ring that surrounds it. With the desire to use this potential, we launched the project "BeeConnected". Under the auspices of the Swedish Institute and the "Food For Tomorrow" initiative, which networks organizations, companies and individuals interested in the sustainability of food systems at various levels, in 2018 we launched a local campaign to involve and inform the general public about issues globally and locally faced by bees and other pollinating insects. The project was jointly conceived and implemented by the environmental organization "Ekonaut" and the design incubator and coworking community „Nova Iskra”At the beginning of 2019, the agency „Kreativa Unlimited“ placed the first "BeeConnected" hives on the roof of its office on a raft near Ušće and the Great War Island, a place of oasis of biodiversity and greenery near the city center.

Responsible beekeeping is important in order to protect local biodiversity, nature in our environment, but also our health, which depends on access to a varied diet, fresh fruits and vegetables, for the development of which bees and other pollinators are necessary. Of the hundred most used plants in human nutrition, bees pollinate as many as seventy, so two thirds of our diet depends on bees. We can improve the living conditions of bees and other pollinators by developing flower surfaces that are attractive to them, which will provide them with a sufficient amount of nectar and pollen. Areas such as agricultural land, private and public gardens, road edges, industrial and commercial zones, could provide refuge to these species that are important for the survival of the entire planet. In addition to establishing city beehives in Belgrade and its surroundings, the project includes raising awareness of the importance of bees, preserving biodiversity and the environment through various public events, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, social media campaigns, thematic production of printed and video material, pop-up markets for honey plants and honey products.

If you are a socially responsible company that wants to make hives in its open space or on the roof of a building and thus support the survival of bees in the city, contact us to go out on the field and assess how you can become part of the project.