Bee my Future: the story of our bees continues

Environment · Redazione · 2017-05-20

LifeGate's project to protect pollinators has reached its tenth season. Here you can follow all the updates from our apiaries.

LifeGate's Bee my Future project is celebrating, in 2026, eleven years.

Over this long period of time, we have supported the keeping of around 30 hives in the Milan Metropolitan Area, protecting more than 13 million bees to date, thanks to the work of expert beekeepers selected by Apam (Associazione produttori apistici della provincia di Milano). Their role has been, and continues to be, to care for the bees protected by the project by following natural practices. The Bee my Future hives are housed in the municipality of Gorgonzola, near the cascina Mugnaga, in the municipality of Cernusco sul Naviglio, near the hamlet of Ronco, and in the municipality of Bussero, at an organically run farm.

Protecting pollinators does not mean looking after only honeybees: since 2021, Bee my Future has also been working to provide a home for wild and solitary bees, such as the mason bees (osmie) that are very common in Italy, as well as other wild pollinators such as ladybirds and butterflies, by spreading nests designed by LifeGate in urban and rural settings to give them a safe refuge and allow them to be observed throughout their life cycle. There are now more than 300 bee hotels installed across various Italian regions and municipalities, in parks, farmsteads and urban green spaces, to encourage wild pollinators to settle there.

Here you can read all the project updates.

The full story of the Bee my Future bees in the logbook

The third year of Bee my Future begins! Our bees and their sweet awakening

Spring awakens the bees. They are ready to forage once more

The 2026 season

The season's progress has been marked by a difficult climatic situation; during the winter the bee colonies came through reasonably well and resumed brood-rearing, thanks to a fairly mild climate with no hard frosts.

"And that is precisely the problem," says Marco Zucchetti, the project's beekeeper. "For some years now you no longer know what to expect. The bees get going incredibly fast the moment they feel a little warmth, the queens ramp up laying and the hives fill with brood in no time at all. But then all it takes is one bad week and everything changes. Rain, wind, a sudden cold snap. And the bees have to stay shut in."

Marco Zucchetti, Bee my future — Marco Zucchetti, beekeeper for the Bee my Future project. © LifeGate

The arrival of spring was no less uncertain than the months that preceded it. Right up to mid-April, cold mornings slowed the bees' foraging flights, but in the second half of the month an almost summer-like heat suddenly arrived and sent them into overdrive.

"One Sunday I went to the apiary fairly early. It had rained overnight but the sun had finally come out. It wasn't really warm yet, but the bees weren't still for a single second. The car was full of kit, as always. Suit, hive tool, smoker, a couple of supers, a few new frames and even the wellies that you never end up needing when you bring them and are always missing when you leave them at home. I pull up in front of the hives and stop for a moment without doing anything. It happens to me often. I just watch the flight activity. I think sometimes you can tell more from that than from opening the hive. The bees were going at it hard. Coming in loaded with pollen of every colour. Bright yellow, orange, almost white. A constant coming and going."

Arnie, bee my future — The Bee my Future hives. © LifeGate

This year the blooms exploded: dandelion, fruit trees, hawthorn and acacia all flowered earlier than in previous years in several areas. However, frequent, heavy storms — sometimes with strong winds and hail — kept forcing the bees to stop.

"In recent years it has become almost a habit to stand with your nose in the air watching the sky rather than the bees. There used to be a saying: 'if it rains today, we'll make it up tomorrow.' It's not that simple any more. I checked on all the colonies at my leisure. Some had genuinely exploded. Bees everywhere. In some hives I've already had to put a super on, while others are starting to think about swarming. After strange winters and ever more unpredictable springs, every flower counts."

May 2025

The 6 hives of Rigoni di Asiago

In the project's tenth anniversary year too, Rigoni di Asiago has chosen to demonstrate its commitment to the world of pollinators by lending its support to Bee my Future, just as it was the very first to do back in 2015 when the project was launched. Starting on 20 May 2025, World Bee Day, and for a full year, the company will adopt 6 of our hives. The number is no coincidence: it is the same number with which, back in 1923, grandmother Elisa Rigoni had begun her work as a beekeeper, involving the whole family and setting the company in motion. A commitment that therefore reconnects past and present, and that aims to have a positive impact on the future through the care of the little foragers.

"Bees, which are fundamental to pollination and life on the planet, are under threat," recalls Andrea Rigoni, the company's President. "Factors such as pesticides and climate change are threatening their survival. Honey production is becoming increasingly difficult: fewer flowers and less nectar mean fewer bees, and this has a knock-on effect across the entire supply chain. Unfortunately, to complicate matters further, the honey reaching our shelves is increasingly adulterated, causing economic damage to serious beekeepers and penalising those who operate with respect for bees and the environment. It is therefore important to remember that, without beekeepers, many of the bees we know and that populate our fields would not exist. Beekeepers are the true guardians of these essential creatures. Supporting their work is a mission for u