HUNTER gives honey bees and native insects a home

Anyone who has ever visited HUNTER in Bielefeld knows that the company grounds are beautifully situated on adjacent meadows and paths surrounded by natural vegetation. Especially now, in the merry month of May, the HUNTER employees and their office dogs enjoy spending their lunch break on a walk in the surroundings.

As part of the sustainability goal of the HUNTER Group, which was recently one of the first signatories of the regional climate initiative "CO2-neutral by 2030" of the chambers of commerce and industry in East Westphalia-Lippe, an area of approx. 1,000 m² behind the company building was left to grow wild, providing a refuge and food for native wild bees, bumblebees and other insects with various plants. This natural area was supplemented by a 100 m long flowering strip on the neighbouring property, where different insect-friendly flowers were sown. At the moment, for example, the very nectar-rich incarnate clover, which is used by honey bees as a foraging plant, is in bloom there, and in summer the field turns into a sea of beautiful sunflowers.

Ideal conditions, therefore, to give honey bees a home on the HUNTER grounds. Beekeeper Peter Isaak, a member of the Eckardtsheim-Senne Beekeepers' Association as part of the Bielefeld District Beekeepers' Association, thought so too. Together with Felix Obeloer, a committed young beekeeper and HUNTER employee, the relocation of two bee colonies was organised a few weeks ago. In the meantime, the animals have settled in very well and are busy producing the original HUNTER honey. "We expect to be able to harvest twice this season," says Peter Isaak. The so-called early harvest is made up of the nectar of early flowering plants such as fruit blossoms, dandelions and the first wild flowers and can still be obtained in May. The entire HUNTER team is already looking forward to the "liquid gold", which will be given as a gift to employees, partners and friends of the house.