The project Les Dorloteurs d’Abeilles takes off thanks to crowdfunding

In thirty years, the number of wild bees in the world has dropped by nearly 80%, a plague essentially due to human activity. Intensive agriculture and the massive use of pesticides are among the main presumed culprits, as experts have regularly pointed out in recent years. It has become urgent to preserve them. That is the reason why Régis, a passionate beekeeper from Charente-Maritime, created in 2010, the company Un Toit Pour Les Abeilles. 

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A supportive network for bee sponsorship

The team of Un Toit Pour les Abeilles works for the preservation of the wild bee and the associated biodiversity. A network of solidarity has been set up, offering individuals and companies the opportunity to finance the installation of new hives by sponsoring bees. 

In return, the sponsors receive personalized honey pots, regular news about the bees and photos of their hives.

The Bee Groomers project to go further

The Bee Groomers project goes even further. It offers the possibility to become a “super-Dorloteur”, and to receive a specific shelter, a Dorlotoir, ready to install on the balcony or in the garden. This small wooden nesting box allows wild bees to build their nest and lay their eggs. Wild bees represent nearly 20,000 species in the world. Contrary to their cousins, the honey bee, apis mellifera, they do not live in colonies, do not produce honey and do not sting. Their way of life is mainly concentrated on their nest, built in the ground, or with dead wood, hollow stems or cracks in the rocks. Hence the idea of the drawer nest box to accommodate each solitary bee. 

“Between February and March, depending on the weather, we send the cocoons to the coddlers. That’s 20,000 cocoons in a year. Between April and June is the peak of wild bee activity, when there are the most active species. A bee lives between 6 and 8 weeks and 10 months as a larva, in a cocoon. Different varieties of bees follow each other in spring, there are 900 different species of wild bees. They do not produce honey. Wild bees are extremely efficient, especially for pollinating fruit,” explains Pauline Jung, project manager at Les Dorloteurs d’Abeilles. 

The project recorded a success on KissKissBank

The project Les Dorloteurs d’Abeilles has been a real success on the participative financing platform KissKissBankBank. The project has raised more than $145,600 (€124,000) of funds between January 2020 and March 2021. A success that highlights the craze for this mode of participatory financing of committed citizens. Indeed, in January 2020, the first collection had gathered more than $101,000 (€86,000). A great launch! 

“It was a real surprise, we did not expect it at all. Especially since we found ourselves immediately in the first containment, it was more difficult to follow behind. But we managed to make shelters for 1,000 pamperers,” explained Pauline Jung. 

In addition, a second fundraiser has just ended on March 12th, it has raised nearly $43,400 (€37,000) to continue developing the project. 500 people are now waiting for their nesting boxes.  “To date, since the launch of the project, between participatory campaigns and requests on the website, we are at 3,100 nesters. It is very important for us to have this kind of participatory campaign. It allows us to have the funds in advance to make all the material. We are delighted, especially to see that the subject of bees is of such interest to the general public,” she added.  

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(Featured image by PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay)

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