Things are buzzing and humming at Hilcona
The Hilcona team has been joined by around 40,000 new colleagues. They all have six legs and two wings, and have been buzzing happily around the head offi ce in Schaan since this summer.
. As part of the «Bee Hilcona» project, the Liechtensteiners gave two bee colonies a new home on their premises in July. And by doing so, Hilcona is making an active contribution to increasing biodiversity and combating insect death in line with the Bell Food Group’s sustainability report. The action was initiated by a number of employees, who also developed a sustainable concept out of the idea together. They brought in an expert to advise them on caring for the hard-working pollen and nectar collectors: Marco Jehle-Radkohl is the only bee-keeper in Liechtenstein and Eastern Switzerland who uses the Demeter method. This form of bee-keeping is oriented towards the natural needs of bees. This includes, for instance, the colony building its honeycombs all by itself – entirely without the often-used prefabricated middle walls.
In contrast with artificial queen breeding, the colony multiplies using natural swarming. Part of the colony leaves the hive to start a new one. «The project is a successful example of practised sustainability», says Hilcona CEO Martin Henck. «Bees are an indispensable building block in our ecosystem. They serve to safeguard natural diversity and the basis of our existence.» So by pollinating plants, bees support agriculture as well as other insects. And there are more than enough of them around the two new Hilcona hives in Schaan. So the table for the new «colleagues» is richly prepared.
