Organic cultivation of olive groves supports the survival of bees, guardians of biodiversity at the table. A virtuous circle you can be part of too, with Monini extra virgin olive oil and LifeGate, thanks to the project Le api e l'olio, now in its third edition.
Protecting bees from the risk of extinction: with the same aim as in 2018 and 2019, the contest Le api e l'olio is back again this year, promoted by Monini in collaboration with LifeGate. Through this campaign, the historic olive oil producer confirms its support for organic beekeeping by committing to adopt 100,000 bees (two hives) from LifeGate's bee conservation project Bee my Future. In previous editions the contribution had been directed to the Apicoltura Carpinese di Carpino (Fg), whereas this time the purchase of equipment, materials and nourishment needed to support the two hives will help a hobbyist beekeeper in the metropolitan area of Milan.
But what does Bios extra virgin olive oil have to do with bees? Organic farming guarantees a healthy, wholesome environment where bees can pollinate safely and give us the precious foods that "dress" our tables. This is demonstrated by Apicoltura Carpinese, with which the campaign originally started, which borders the Monini organic olive groves located in the heart of the Gargano, in Puglia: here the organic cultivation of the plants has created conditions favourable to bees, such as soil rich in life and flowers, no pollution and no synthetic chemical substances. For Monini, seeing bees thrive alongside their organic olive groves is further confirmation of the health of the territory. Bee wellbeing is indeed an important indicator showing how free the territory is from synthetic chemical agents and how far removed it is from every form of pollution. This synergistic proximity allows bees to find a safe environment for their health, thereby enabling them, through pollination, to safeguard food biodiversity, which in the Gargano is particularly rich in products that are emblematic of the Mediterranean diet.
The bond between oil and bees does not end there. From the organic olive groves of Puglia comes Bios by Monini, the 100 per cent Italian organic extra virgin olive oil, which precisely because of its quality, achieved with respect for the environment, has won awards and recognition across Europe. By purchasing a 750 ml bottle of this oil and entering the contest, from 28 September to 31 December 2020, Monini, without adding anything to the product's usual price, will concretely support the work of organic beekeepers. Simply visit www.monini.com, register, enter your details and upload a photo of the receipt. In doing so, you will not only receive an adoption certificate but will also be entered into the final draw, scheduled before 31 January 2021, for one of 15 annual supplies of Bios Monini oil (12 bottles of 750 ml) and honey (12 jars of 500 g) from organic beekeeping — that of "your own" bees — complete with a personalised name on the jar. Should any consumer wish to see "their" bees, they will be able to do so online thanks to the video and photographic documentation available on lifegate.it and on the social channels of Monini and LifeGate.
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The possibility that bees could become extinct is a real threat: in the United States one in four bee species is at risk, and in Europe one in ten. And since, according to estimates by the Fao, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of food worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees, the disappearance of these insects would mean no more crops capable of perpetuating themselves and no food for us. The paradox is that colony collapse disorder, as this phenomenon is defined, is caused first and foremost by climate change and the massive use in agriculture of synthetic chemical pesticides such as neonicotinoids (widespread especially in maize cultivation), which act on the nervous system of insects and parasites.
In light of this, one of the solutions for tackling the extinction of bees turns out to be organic farming, a cultivation method that preserves soil fertility and the wholesomeness of its produce, biodiversity, the environment and the work of many beneficial insects, their survival and our own. These have always been inextricably linked. A farming system in which no pesticides are used protects the environment, pollinators, our health and our survival. According to data from Aiab, the Italian Association for Organic Farming, organic fields are home to seven times more bees and bumblebees, five times more butterflies, seven times more blackbirds, great tits and wrens. Flowers grow in quantities three to four times greater. As well as consuming less energy and emitting fewer greenhouse gases, organic farming acts as a carbon sink because every hectare cultivated in this way absorbs 2.3 tonnes of carbon per year.
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Thanks to the partnership between Monini and LifeGate, which with the Bee my Future project has been committed to bee conservation for years, in 2018 a unique innovation in Italy was applied to the apiary in Carpino: the first non-invasive biomonitoring system for assessing the health of bees and, through it, that of the surrounding environment as well, underscoring the interdependence between the two and the close correlation with our own survival. The system, positioned on a sample hive, made it possible to monitor the health of 5 colonies. The data recorded from the beginning of April 2018 confirmed the excellent health enjoyed by the bees of Maccarone. The internal temperature of the hives is between 34 and 35 degrees, a value indicating the presence of brood perfectly in line with the biological cycle of bees. The external temperature is between 9 and 20 degrees: after the early morning hours the little foragers go out in search of pollen and nectar, and they do so at a very high rate, reaching over forty thousand flights in a single day per hive. The hives weigh around forty kilograms each, well above average — a symptom of the intense activity of collecting and producing honey, an important indicator of the health of the bees and the environment, but also of the great richness of biodiversity in the territory, which stimulates the foragers to gather a large quantity and variety of pollen and nectar.
LifeGate chose to work with Monini after evaluating the quality, safety, authenticity and transparency criteria of the company's production process and of the company's long-standing tradition of handling extra virgin olive oil with care and rigour, the flagship ingredient of the Mediterranean diet. LifeGate became the scientific and communications partner of the Le api e l'olio campaign, launched in 2018 – and reprised in 2019 and 2020 precisely following its great success – but only after first verifying the significant presence of wild bees and bees raised by natural methods in the vicinity of Monini's organic olive groves in Puglia.