Sometimes your bike leads you to new and wild places; other times it can take you even deeper. In their latest film, Bee Wild Bee Free, Giorgio and Francesco combined bikepacking and beekeeping, a process that brought them closer to nature and played a significant role in their environmental consciousness.
“Bikepacking gave us the opportunity to fully enjoy the great outdoors and spend more time communing with Nature. This helped crystalize the fact that we’re part of a complex ecosystem, where species live together and depend on one another. Bee Wild Bee Free is our contribution that we hope will raise awareness about the importance of honey bees, for mankind and for our planet’s ecosystems,” explains Giorgio.
The beekeeping journey that Giorgio started two years ago deepens our knowledge on the world of the bees, and how these pollinators play an integral role in the Planet’s ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, and other plants, which serve as food and shelter for creatures large and small. For human nutrition the benefits of pollination include not just abundance of fruits, nuts, and seeds, but also their variety and quality. Collaboration with these amazing creatures shows us how two completely different species can mutually benefit one another. A sort of give-an-take relationship in which humans take care of bees and bees provide incredible products like honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly and propolis. The most important thing we have learned from working with bees is a lesson in cooperation, not domination—a rare human-nature experience.
Honey bees, both wild and domestic, are prolific pollinators and a vital part of our eco and food systems. One third of the world’s food supply is dependent on pollinators, mostly honeybees. As they forage for their food—which is made up of nectar providing sugar for energy and protein-rich pollen—they pollinate plants by carrying pollen from one plant to the other, helping them reproduce. But bees are in danger and their species is in decline because of pesticide use, the loss of the green spaces that provide them with a flower-rich habitat, monoculture farming practices, pests, and disease. Everywhere on the planet, every living thing, including humans, is involved in these complex networks of interdependent relationships. Preserving them means protecting the foundation upon which the existence on the planet Earth is based.
Giorgio and his wife Silvia started their adventure as beekeepers with a small production operation called BeeFolk. BeeFolk harvests incredibly delicious wildflower honey that smells of the mountains. We love bringing it along on our bikepacking trips using squeezable packs. It’s a practical way to take a nip for a mid-ride energy boost, or for sweetening coffee in the morning. Honey also livens up breakfasts and snacks, and provides a great source of energy since contains simple carbohydrates. Then there is beeswax, which has many uses, including the manufacture of lip balm to protect your lips from cold, sun, and wind.
Montanus
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