Raising wild bees at home

SWITZERLAND – Having wild bees as pets might sound a little off the wall, but such is the case for biologists Tom Strobi and Claudio Sedivy, who are working with an environmental issue at heart: boosting the populations of these endangered pollinators.

In 2011, a United Nations report on the dwindling worldwide bee population set alarm bells ringing. Without bees acting as pollinators, one-third of the world’s food supply could easily disappear.

Seeking to address the problem, Strobl and Sedivy founded the startup Wildbiene + Partner in 2013. It enables anyone to set up mason bee nests on their balconies or gardens, providing the pollinators with a safe place to reproduce.

Unlike honey bees, mason bees have no queen, do not sting and do not produce honey. These furry little amber-colored insects prove rather agreeable company in an urban garden or on a balcony, where they can enjoy a diversity of plants.

“One single wild bee pollinates as much as 300 honey bees,” says Strobl said.

Five years after the launch of the startup, the concept has already won over some 30,000 clients and 300 farmers in Switzerland. And the number of takers is firmly on the rise.

Starting this year, residents in France can also order online a bee home with 25 cocoons.

The startup sells two different bee home sizes. For a slightly higher fee, individuals can order a bee home equipped with an observation drawer, enabling owners to study the insect along its evolutionary cycle.

To increase the population of wild bees in Switzerland, Wildbiene + Partner also urge bee home owners to allow the biologists to collect new eggs one a year.

The eggs are then used to make new stocks and replenish the bee homes, further improving the chances of increasing the bee population.www.wildbieneundpartner.ch - Céline Garcin (La Tribune de Genève)