Guerlain #WomenforBees Project Led by Angelina Jolie in Yucatan for 2023
/The partnership between Guerlain and UNESCO launched in early 2020, with the training of beekeepers with more than 50 hives based in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cambodia and China. The five-year project has a goal of training 88 beekeepers from 44 biospheres maintaining 4.400 beehives, after which the partnership can be renewed.
In 2023, the program expanded to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, in collaboration with the Fundación Selva Maya and Maroma, a Belmond Hotel.
To learn that the new LVMH Belmond Maroma Resort and Spa, re-opening August 3, 2023 is also a co-sponsor of the #WomenforBees project, gives Maroma a sense of purpose that has deep roots in ancient practices and traditions.
Reading Maroma’s IG description of its “place” is quite breathtaking and a tribute to LVMH’s approach to 21st century values in creating brand identity with real integrity and an embrace of ancient wisdom.
Maroma is a space of enchanting natural refinement, where ancient mysteries meet modern revelations. Our hotel is based on higher design—infinite and larger than the place itself. It was created originally by true believers of the Sacred Geometry, who aligned our white stucco buildings with the surrounding energy fields.
Understanding the respect that LVMH is giving to ancient wisdom and practices — writing about sacred geometry and the energy fields involved with the design of Maroma — had great impact on me, and I continue to process the many ways that LVMH is touching our lives in the world of luxury.
Read MoreWill American Bees Survive Pesticides, Government Dysfunction and Other Killers?
/Will American Bees Survive Pesticides, Government Dysfunction and Other Killers? AOC Fashion
American [species] Bumble Bees Could Gain ESA Protection
AOC has followed the problem of dwindling bee populations for almost a decade. But we were shocked to learn this week that the American bumble bee population has dropped nearly 90 percent. These vital pollinators for wildflowers and crops have vanished completely in eight states: Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming.
Presently American bumble bees have no protection. But an August 2021 petition for protecting the American bumble bee under the Endangered Species Act [ESA] was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Bombus Pollinator Association of Law Students, an Albany Law School student group.
Sounds great you say. Finally we’re taking action to protect our bees. Yet the plight of another bee species shows us just how complicated it is to protect these precious pollinators. Passing a law or writing a new policy does not guarantee any improvement in bee deaths.
We must create spaces — land with controlled uses of pesticides — in which bees can thrive and regenerate their population. However, America still can’t agree on the science of pesticides. Any mandate meets countless political headwinds, as Democrats and Republicans generally loathe each other on plans — or no plans — to protect our environment.
Kate Middleton, Beekeeper, Delivers Her Own Honey to Urban Nature Project
/Kate Middleton, Beekeeper, Delivers Her Own Honey to Urban Nature Project
The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton may not be in the same league with her brother beekeeper James Middleton, but Kate fell into her own groove with a group of school children at the Urban Nature Project at London’s Natural History Museum in South Kensington, where Kate is the royal patron.
Beekeeping is a very romantic notion, especially in urban areas, where conscientious environmentalists are genuinely concerned about the dire assault of modern life on the world’s pollinators and guardians of the world’s food supply.
The Forward Thinking Museum in London — a virtual space for contemporary photography and videos —exhibited wonderful photos of urban beekeepers around the world. Images include Brian Mc Callum and his hives on the roof of Sir John Cass Primary School. Callum is a pro-bee activist trying to set up as many hives as possible in London.
What a lovely idea, we all exclaim! But wait one moment. Kate Middleton’s very patronage — London’s Natural History Museum, site of her bee honey visit with school children — issued a very alarming report in September 2020. I’ve heard this same call to action about beekeeping in other urban areas. Beekeeping in cities is harming other wildlife, writes the NHM.