21 DECEMBER

We're celebrating Christmas with a new hive adopted by Sale e Pepe, an Italian company specialising in the organisation of wedding banquets and corporate events. We thank all the project's supporters for enabling us to triple the number of our hives, closing the year at 15!
Happy holidays to everyone from Bee my Future — we'll be back in January with new updates!

14 DECEMBER

We're at 14 hives — another has been adopted by Hello bank!, the bank of the BNL group that this year decided to promote a sustainable lifestyle and economy through the website hellogreen.it
Another early Christmas present for our bees, which have now reached over 100 supporters among individuals and companies. Many have also received their jars of honey to celebrate alongside us a sweet Christmas and the first important results of a project that is demonstrating how it is possible to keep these vital insects in urban settings by following natural practices to counter the extraordinary bee die-off recorded in Italy too in recent years.

9 DECEMBER

Bee my Future reaches 13 hives thanks to a new company that has decided to support the project! That company is Ergo, a company that develops insurance solutions for families and professionals seeking protection and security for the future.

Bee my Future honey is already knocking on the doors of all the families and all those who have decided to believe in this initiative. The first deliveries set off at the beginning of December. If you haven't yet thought about what to give for Christmas, there's still time to adopt the bees, receive and gift the sweet, sustainable honey of Bee my Future. You can also choose to purchase a voucher valid for two people for a tasting at the Rigoni di Asiago flagship store in Milan.

How bees prepare for winter

Winter is a very delicate period for bees, which, as the cold sets in, go through a more "sluggish" phase of their life cycle. During this season bees rarely venture out, and the beekeeper ensures everything needed to keep them healthy. For example, by providing supplies of candy sugar left in the hives — in addition to the honey needed for their nutrition — as "emergency food" and a supplement to keep them strong and hydrated. This food is provided for under the organic certification regulations. Candy sugar is used only during the coldest months, when the beekeeper cannot check on the health of the colonies. The hives must in fact remain closed and well sheltered to withstand frosts.

Varroa through the winter. Beyond winter itself, there is another enemy that threatens bees' survival. The varroa is a tiny insect that resembles a flea. It settles on the bee and weakens it, making it more susceptible to disease. Varroa has been present as an endemic factor in all European hives since the 1980s. It is a forced coexistence that the beekeeper must manage and keep under control to reduce the risks. Rising temperatures, however, are extending the mite's biological cycle and therefore the period it spends in the hives.

28 OCTOBER

Thanks to the arrival of two new sponsors, Bee my Future reaches 12 adopted hives. In just six months, the number of hives has more than doubled! Excogitare, a company that rents and sells technological and innovative solutions, has adopted one hive, and Cotril, a leading company in professional hair beauty, has adopted three.

The news doesn't end there. Preparation of the honey jars to be sent to all supporters is almost complete, and next week we'll be revealing some Christmas surprises — original gift ideas. There's something for everyone, but for now we'll leave you wanting more…

13 OCTOBER

Thanks to the contribution of Just Wellness, the individualised physical activity centre in Cornaredo (Milan), Bee my Future rises to eight hives. Meanwhile, the honey jars to be sent to all project supporters are almost ready. Christmas is closer than it seems, and LifeGate is already thinking up plenty of new ideas for your sweet, sustainable gifts!

26 SEPTEMBER

Autumn has begun and preparations to face winter are under way. A new site visit has assessed the health of the bees and observed all the measures taken by our beekeeper Marco Zucchetti for the coming months: from cleaning to preparing the hives.

All this to ensure that during the coldest months our little bees have the right shelter and nourishment. Though there's no shortage of bold bees taking advantage of the last days of this mild sunshine to carry on pollinating and producing honey.

Honey extraction will finish in October before the jarring is completed and we're ready to distribute this year's honey to all project supporters.

6 SEPTEMBER

L'Arca di Noè, the Sunday programme dedicated to animals broadcast as part of TG5, featured the Bee my Future project in the episode aired on 6 September. Click here to watch it again and share it!

6 JULY

8 JUNE

The number of organisations interested in the bee conservation project Bee my Future is growing all the time.

After featuring on the airwaves of Radio Deejay thanks to the Tropical Pizza programme (episode of 9 April), on Saturday 8 June it was the turn of TG5's cameras, which produced a feature on the project to be broadcast on the Sunday in-depth programme L'arca di Noè, on 6 September at 1:00 pm on Canale 5.

Our frames ready to be uncapped and extracted

The first jars ready to go out

Honey dripping from the frame

This is the honey deposited by the bees in the cells

The honey ready to be jarred

Ready to jar

And while the wax is removed from the frames…

… the honey flows.

6 JUNE

The president of Apam, Ovidio Locatelli, hosted Marco Zucchetti and his hives at the "Apicoltura Locatelli" farm, making available the machinery needed for the honey extraction from the Bee my Future hives.

The hive frames were cleared of wax and then placed in a dedicated centrifuge where the honey was collected and left to rest for a few days in the tanks. It is now ready to be transferred.

The process was followed in person by the LifeGate team and documented in photographs by Federico Vagliati. We can therefore announce — with a touch of emotion — that the first Bee my Future honey is ready and being kept until autumn, when it will be distributed among the supporters who believed in us from the very beginning. The quality? A delicious acacia honey. Future extractions will also yield other varieties, including lime blossom, wildflower, and whatever the bees decide to collect according to their own personal tastes. Here is how you can use it:

26 MAY 2015

Marco Zucchetti is the first beekeeper of Bee my Future, the challenge taken on by LifeGate to save bees in the city. We had a chat with him to understand how this story began and how far it can go. Read the full interview.

27 APRIL 2015

On Saturday 25 April we went on a first visit to get to know the first five Bee my Future hives up close. Marco guided us into his world, passionately showing us how every bee has a very specific role within the "kingdom". Every function is precious — from the workers to the pollinators, from the drones to the queens — we were able to observe first-hand the importance of each step in the perfect mechanism of an apiary. Capturing every moment was Federico Vagliati, the photographer who chose to join the Bee my Future team. Accustomed to working on film sets, he is always "on the scene". This time he chose the hives managed by Marco as the setting for the photographic reportage that will enrich the telling of the project over the coming months.

22 APRIL 2015

A new queen bee has been born in Marco's hives. The deposed one fled with her closest allies. They took refuge in a fruit tree, and in this video you can see our fearless beekeeper carrying out a delicate operation to retrieve the dissident swarm.

The story begins like this

Marco devotes almost all of his free time to his passion for bees, with the help of some unique colleagues: his wife Federica and their two daughters, Caterina (10) and Martina (6). Their youngest child, Tommaso, is just a few months old and therefore does not yet have a protective suit in his size — the only hurdle before he too can enter the magical world of bees. A hobbyist beekeeper, Marco was chosen by Apam, the association that collaborates with Bee my Future, to be the first protagonist of this important initiative to protect bees in urban settings.

Experience. Marco boasts enviable experience and expertise in this field: he has attended several beekeeping courses and since 2012 has been listed on the national register of experts in sensory analysis of honey. He has taken part in research projects on the causes of bee mortality, keeps Ligurian bees, gives lessons to other aspiring beekeepers, and organises honey-tasting sessions. Since 2008 he has also been a member of the Apam board of directors.

The hives to be kept. The hives entrusted to management by LifeGate and Apam will be kept from the first of April in the courtyard of his home. The first phase involves the purchase of the swarms, the equipment, and the protective clothing.

Each month you will be able to follow the progress of the work, with updates — including photographs — from Marco and his family as they care for and keep one of the most important species on the planet.

If you too care about what you eat and the future of biodiversity, join the project. Visit the LifeGate store and help us save the bees.