Wednesday 20th May is World Bee Day, a special date created by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of bees and pollinators. As key link in the pollination process, bees are increasingly threatened by direct and indirect human activities. As the first influential (and committed!) bee, B. has decided to seize this opportunity to shine a spotlight on the cause.
It's been almost a year since B., a never-seen-before influencer, has left her beehive to join a bigger one, Instagram, in order to drive the attention of humans and save her species. Up to date, more than 280,000 people have rallied behind her cause. From the top of her 1. inch tall and 70mg, B. shares her lifestyle on her Instagram account, but more importantly, she uses her voice on social networks to raise awareness among the members of her community about the urgency of the situation and raise funds to save bees.
So here’s the deal: the more subscribers @Bee_nfluencer will have, the more funds it will be raised to support projects in one of the 3 following fields:
- actual experiments leading to a more pollinator-friendly agriculture;
- the restoring wild and domestic bees’ habitats;
- undertaken researches to better understand the impact of pesticides on biodiversity and bees’ health.
Fondation de France, B.'s godmother
Committed for over 50 years to environmental and biodiversity issues, Fondation de France decided one year ago to help B. in her battle. Fondation de France created the BEEFUND to raise funds and support projects in the field. Up to date, thanks to various partnerships with brands from around the world and shared on her Instagram account, the influencer has raised 100,000 euros and supported 3 challenging projects. Two of them have been financed in 2019:
- mayage in Auch (Gers): the association “Arbre et Paysage 32” has set up a project involving farmers and beekeepers. Together, they decided to plant trees and flowers liked by bees, and to set up apiaries on the farms. The farmer thus becomes bee’s food and biodiversity's protector. Moreover, the beekeeper enhances the farmer's practices with typical and local honey;
- creation of agro-ecological infrastructures for a bee-friendly habitat in Moselle: led by the EPLEFPA (Établissement Public d’Enseignement et de Formation Professionnelle Agricole) in the commune of Courcelles Chaussy, this project is working on the creation of a new multi-variety orchard, which has many impacts on biodiversity and insects’ well-being. Tree planting in all its forms, assisted natural regeneration, and ground vegetation cover are all tools that make it possible to offer shelter and food to bees and pollinators all year round;
- think and act collectively to protect the health of bees, with l'Association Patrimoniale de la Plaine de Versailles: a green, opened and non-urbanized territory, the Plaine de Versailles represents a small gem of nature and a common property for all those who are attached to it: beekeepers, farmers, communities and inhabitants of the territory. This ambitious and unifying project aims to reflect on and analyze together the causes and factors leading to the disappearance of bees (dietary deficiencies linked to biodiversity, presence of heavy metals or phytosanitary products). Their goal ? To work for the health of bees and to increase their population so they can play their crucial role as pollinators and restore the meaning of biodiversity.
Because it takes urgent action to save the bees, B. needs everyone's support.
Follow her Instagram account @Bee_nfluencer!
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