"Even if I didn't have the scientific background I have, I would consider protecting bees important for selfish reasons: 75 per cent of what we eat depends on these insects. But do you realise what it would mean to lose their service?" Carlo Taccari, President of the Association Buono, hits the nail on the head. In recent years, the population of bees and other pollinating insects has declined. According to the Fao, 71 of the 100 most important crops in the world reproduce thanks to pollination. More than 80 per cent of crops intended to feed humanity rely on the work these insects provide us with free of charge. If the number of bees continues to fall, very soon we will no longer be able to enjoy foods such as berries, peaches, chestnuts, apples and almonds, but also courgettes, tomatoes and countless other vegetables. The same applies to dairy products such as milk, yogurt, butter and fresh cheeses.

We at LifeGate interviewed him and Marialba Ventricelli, Vice President, to talk about one of the best pieces of news of 2022: Bee my Future is finally landing in the metropolitan area of Rome. The apiary is located at the Lipu Oasis of Castel di Guido, the forty-fifth zone of Rome in the Agro Romano. And it is managed directly by the association, made up not only of Taccari and Ventricelli, but also of four other beekeeper-scientists. "We all come from scientific disciplines, all different from one another," Carlo recounts. Among them, there are graduates in Evolutionary Biology, Neurobiology, Applied Cell Biology, Ecobiology, and one is a naturalist guide. "At a certain point, through our work in the apiary, we tried to put our knowledge into practice and give something back to citizens, to put it at their service."

Marialba continues: "Our goal is to understand and study bees and to promote scientific culture through these small insects. Getting to know these creatures brings us back to our rightful place in nature, reminds us of the limits and privileges of our species, and of the responsibility we have towards the Planet."

Buono and LifeGate: a shared responsibility, for bees and for science

A responsibility that Il Miele Buono now shares with LifeGate. From 2015 up to this moment, the project has protected over 10 million bees. And now the Bee my Future "family" can only grow larger, thanks to the association's hives. They called them Venti Buoni — meaning twenty good ones — because there are twenty hives, each dedicated to a scientist whose discoveries have been fundamental to the progress of humanity. "It is a science communication project carried out through images and social media, created to tell the story of science's importance in everyday life," Ventricelli explains. "And then, as well as being a tribute to research, this project has a practical purpose. Painted hives are common practice among beekeepers, because they help bees to orientate themselves and find their way home."

Of the Castel di Guido hives, LifeGate began by adopting five, dedicated respectively to Marie Curie, Alan Turing, Isaac Newton, John Nash and Jane Goodall. All are equipped with the non-invasive Melixa System biomonitoring system which, through internal and external temperature sensors, weight measurements and a daily flight counter, provides valuable information on the health of the bees and the surrounding environment. "The oasis is the ideal place for these studies," the president continues. "It is an area where we find great diversity, but under controlled conditions, because it is protected. The bees therefore give us a wealth of information: about flowering — which plants and at what time of year — about their state of health, and about the quality of the honey — which fortunately has always been good — and its characteristics."

Bee my Future will support the beekeepers involved in purchasing bee swarms and the necessary equipment — such as hives, protective clothing and everything needed for the care of the insects — as well as monitoring and checking the activity and state of health of these pollinators, and will offer its own channels for various awareness-raising and edutainment activities aimed at individuals, businesses and institutions. "We really found our match in LifeGate," Carlo concludes. "We know that individual action, however good, does not lead to truly meaningful change. Concerted effort is always needed, with everyone playing their part, for the good of the community and to reach as many people as possible. It's no coincidence that our motto is 'let's do something good together'."

We're in.