The death of bees and the gradual disappearance of insects and other species are very common topics in today’s media. Lenze’s environmental programme is now making an important contribution to the environment by establishing three colonies of honey bees on its company premises. The honey bees perform an important service for our ecological balance because by pollenating plants and flowers they ensure the preservation of wild plants that provide nectar and pollen. Lenze is taking this first small step in support of a variety of regional, national and international preservation strategies. The project is to be extended on an international level at a later stage. 

Lenze is giving three amateur beekeepers, who are all employees in the company, the location for the colonies of honey bees free of charge. And it would be a mistake to think that a location in an industrial environment is not ideal. Beekeeper Frank Clodius, who is managing the bee colonies with his colleagues Dirk Böhm and Manfred Burgdorf, both of whom are now retired Lenzians, explains: “We have many green areas here at Lenze with early nectar plants that bloom wonderfully every year, such as the flowering cherry, for example. In the adjacent field we also have rape being cultivated, which is the most important source of nectar in May. It is just in the summer months that we could do with more flowers and plants at Lenze. Perhaps a new flower strip can be planted here and there. But even in summer the bees can find enough food, for example in lavender blossoms.”

Around 50,000 bees inhabit a bee colony, which means that there are now 150,000 bees living on the Lenze premises in Gross Berkel. Their pollenating activities not only support other insects, but also the local agriculture. Neighbouring farmer Friedel-Curt Redeker, who is planting rape in the adjacent fields this year, is naturally happy about this. “Rape is an important nectar plant for honey bees. So I am very pleased about Lenze’s environmental project because the bees will pollenate the rape, and that can increase the yield.” 

Lenze Environment Manager Volker Bockskopf has included the bee project in the Lenze environmental programme. He emphasises: “This project represents a new step forward for Lenze’s conservation policy. We are extending it for the first time to wildlife conservation, and we are cooperating with external claimants, such as farmers. The project is also receiving backing on a national and international level through national sustainability strategies and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals der UN, which aim to give greater protection to life on the land. The Lenze bee project is contributing to these strategies by putting a very important plan into action. 

The bees and their beehives on the Lenze premises in Gross Berkel already have a “twin” at the Lenze logistics centre in Asten, Austria, where bees are also becoming active this year. “The Lenze bees are the beginning of a path that we aim to broaden and extend. Our goal is to create more sustainable infrastructures and company processes, and to position Lenze a member of a sustainable development of business, the environment and society,” says Volker Bockskopf in conclusion.