The European Bee Award 2022 winners are ‘Veitshöchheimer Hempmix’ and ‘IT Beekeeping by AmoHive’
In an award ceremony hosted by MEP Franc Bogovič at the European Parliament in Brussels, the IX edition of the European Bee Award rewarded a wildflower mixture for biogas production and a beehive monitoring system.
Brussels 7th December 2022 – The European Bee Award has been acknowledging innovative, efficient, and scalable projects that protect pollinators in Europe since it was established in 2014 by the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and the European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association (CEMA). The ELO and CEMA were delighted to award this year’s prizes last night to the winners:
- Category ‘Land management practices’: the winner is Veitshöchheimer Hempmix (‘Veitshöchheimer Hanfmix’) by the Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture (LWG). LWG designed a wildflower mixture of 30 predominantly native wild and cultivated annual, biennial and perennial flowering plants that deliver diverse floral resources, as well as biomass that can be used for the production of biogas. This creates an agricultural cultivation system that combines productivity and biodiversity.
- Category ‘Innovative and technological solutions’: the winner is IT Beekeeping by AmoHive. Amohive created a small 3D model of a hive that monitors hive activity (through an electronic scale, temperature sensors, GPS and a solar panel that powers the electronics) and sends information to a server. An algorithm processes the data and decides in which mode the hives should continue to work. The data can be followed in real time in an app and is already used in Poland, Ukraine and Canada.
The Special Mention of the Jury was awarded to Birr Castle Bee Project by the Birr Castle Estate, who implemented changes in the land and forest management across the estate’s 900 hectares in order to create, protect, and enhance bee habitat wherever possible.
Dr. Michael Garratt, from the University of Reading, President of the European Bee Award Jury which includes also international experts, members of the European Institutions and NGOs, said: “The entries to the European Bee Award submitted showcase a real variety of positive actions and activities to support bees and pollinators across Europe. We thank participants for their commitment and enthusiasm”.
The host of the ceremony MEP Franc Bogovič (EPP, Slovenia) commented: “Food security in the EU has been taken for granted, but with energy security, it is one of the pillars of security overall. It is necessary to take into account that there can be no food without pollinators, and many new European policy measures are pollinators friendly for this reason. But we need an environment in which farmers can produce food and have their income, too. We can do this; it goes hand in hand with improving their sustainability and their production. Projects like the European Bee Award show us that in nature things go together. We need to go in this direction of a better, more sustainable agriculture sector, and quality food production, which is essential in Europe”.
Bettina Doeser, Head of Unit, Natural Capital & Ecosystem Health, DG Environment at the European Commission, said “The decline of wild pollinators in the last decades seriously puts at risk the functioning of our ecosystems and well-being. All projects and entries for the Bee Award deserve praise: you are already doing what we aim to do on a broader scale with the European Commission’s strategic initiatives. We thank you for your work and ask you to continue to be the practitioners and founders of good practices and management for pollinators”.
Thierry de l’Escaille, Secretary General of ELO commented: “In our daily activities, we landowners and managers of farmlands and forests aim to combine the production of food, and other biomass, with the protection of our ecosystem and environment, and with our responsibility as employers and as entrepreneurs in rural areas. We need more bottom-up approaches, inspiring and effective examples to upscale, like the projects we are awarding today and have been committed to support through the European Bee Award since its foundation”.
Gilles Dryancour, Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee and member of the Bee Award Jury said: “The European Bee Award is now in its ninth edition, and we are always impressed by the creativity and innovation shown by applicants. The beehive was created over 4500 years ago, and then perfected in 1845. Tonight’s winners Amohive start a new beehive generation, a modern design including sensors measuring temperature and weight, very practical to evaluate the health of bees, and a very useful tool for educational purposes. We thank you for being builders of the future of beekeeping”.
Marin Miletić, Member of the Croatian Parliament also intervened at the event and described efforts that can be carried over at national level to include beekeepers in the public debate.
In 2022, the European Bee Award competition received 26 applications from 16 different European countries. Last night’s award ceremony gathered over 70 participants: beekeepers, policy makers, land managers, academia and representatives of the agri-food sector exchanged best practices, while getting inspired by new ideas on how to protect bees and enhance biodiversity in Europe.
To learn more about this award please visit:
- europeanlandowners.org
- cema-agri.org
- #EUBeeAward
Project Veitshöchheimer Hempmix by the Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture (LWG) receives the Land management practices prize.
Project IT Beekeeping by AmoHive receives the Innovative and technological solutions prize.
Project Birr Castle Bee Project by the Birr Castle Estate receives the Special Mention of the Jury.
The winners of the 2022 European Bee Award with Jury President Michael Garratt, ELO Secretary General Thierry de l’Escaille, Croatian MP Marin Miletić and MEP Franc Bogovič
