14 May Official presentation of Biodiversity Friend Beekeeping
The first standard for biodiversity-friendly beekeeping.
Seven beekeeping companies from Veneto, Puglia and Tuscany, for a total of about 1200 hives, have joined Biodiversity Friend® Beekeeping, the first standard for biodiversity-friendly beekeeping that considers the intense relationship that is established between the beekeeper, the honey bee and the territory as its main value.
Biodiversity-friendly beekeeping is based on respect for Apis mellifera and the territoriality of its products.
The official presentation of Biodiversity Friend® Beekeeping will take place, via videoconference on May 20, 2020, Third World Bee Day, at 6.00 pm, with the participation of WBA President Paolo Fontana, as speaker. Will also participate Marco Valentini, Giuseppe Monaco, Valeria Malagnini, Gianni Stoppa and other beekeepers and technicians in the sector.
“Our aim – explained Paolo Fontana, President of the World Biodiversity Association – is to stimulate the world of beekeeping and agriculture to become aware of a production that is more careful to the conservation of biological resources, in a perspective of sustainability of the development.Because only by conserving the local honey bee populations, will it be possible to continue beekeeping, and only by guaranteeing a clear territoriality and genuineness to the bee products will it be possible to overcome the serious economic challenges of the beekeeping sector. In our opinion it is a fundamental moment for the exploitation of beekeeping, also as an economic activity, and for the protection of bees, not only in Italy, but all over the world! ”
The new Protocol was created by the World Biodiversity Association, which since 2010 manages the Biodiversity Friend® certification for the sustainability and conservation of biodiversity in agriculture. The standard was developed by a group of entomologists, beekeepers and naturalists who have prepared a handbook, based on 10 actions and for each of them is assigned a score, with the aim of rewarding the approaches that best pursue respect for biodiversity.
This protocol was designed to direct the beekeeper to put into practice concrete actions and make technical choices in line with both the nature and biology of the honey bee, but also with the role of insuperable pollinator of this insect, essential in the conservation of ecological balance and in a large part of agricultural production.
THE AIM
The aim of this new standard is:
- on the one hand, promoting a particular approach to beekeeping, involving beekeepers to undertake a way based on sustainability,
- on the other hand, to offer beekeepers a tool, verified or certified, to be spent on consumers.
PRINCIPLES
The principles on which biodiversity-friendly beekeeping is measured are:
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- the permanence of the hives, the use of local bees and not commercial hybrids or bees from geographically very distant areas;
- the great value for bees of the natural or semi-natural honeycomb and the quality of the wax;
- the modalities of multiplication of the colonies;
- prudent artificial feeding;
- the control of bee diseases and parasites with beekeeping techniques and products that can be used in a biological context;
- the management of hive products on a local basis.
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In addition to these principles closely linked to the activity of beekeepers, are considered specific actions aimed at safeguarding agrosystems (when the beekeeping company also manages land or is also a farm) such as the presence of hedges and woods, the rational use of water, agricultural biodiversity, land and landscape protection and social responsibility.