Oslo creates world�s first �highway� to protect endangered bees

AFP, OSLO: From flower emblazoned cemeteries to rooftop gardens and balconies, Norway’s capital Oslo is creating a “bee highway” to protect endangered pollinators essential to food production.
“We are constantly reshaping our environment to meet our needs, forgetting that other species also live in it,” Agnes Lyche Melvaer, head of the Bybi, an environmental group supporting urban bees, which is leading the project.
“To correct that we need to return places to them to live and feed,” she explained, sitting on a bench in a lush city centre square bursting with early Nordic summer growth.
With its sunflowers, marigolds and other nectar-bearing flowers planted by bee-loving locals and school children, Abel’s Garden was until recently covered only in grass but is now a floral “feeding station” for bees.
Oslo’s “bee highway” aims to give the insects a safe passage through the city, lined with relays providing food an shelter—the first such system in the world, according to the organisers.
Participants in the project—state bodies, companies, associations and private individuals—are invited to post their contribution on a website www.polli.no, which maps out the bees’ route across the city.
On the twelfth floor of an ultra modern office block in the capital’s chic business district on the edge of Oslo fjord, a major accountancy firm has covered parts of its terrace in brightly flowering Sedum plants and two bee hives.
It houses some 45,000 worker bees, busily unaware of their smart-suited office counterparts enjoying their lunch just metres away.
“One should see it as a sign that companies are also taking responsibility for preserving biodiversity,” said accountant and bee-keeping enthusiast Marie Skjelbred.
She convinced her employer to co-finance the project to the tune of 400,000 kroner ($51,348, 46,000 euros) along with the owners of the building.
“The workers live about 60 days,” she explained with a glint in her eye.
“During their lives, they don’t produce more than a spoon of honey,” she added, before turning to her accountancy skills to do the maths.

Oslo creates world�s first �highway� to protect endangered bees

AFP, OSLO: From flower emblazoned cemeteries to rooftop gardens and balconies, Norways capital Oslo is creating a bee highway to protect endangered pollinators essential to food production. We are constantly reshaping our environment to meet our needs, forgetting that other species also live in it, Agnes Lyche Melvaer, head of the Bybi, an environmental group supporting urban bees, which is leading the project. To correct that we need to return places to them to live and feed, she explained, sitting on a bench in a lush city centre square bursting with early Nordic summer growth. With its sunflowers, marigolds and other nectar-bearing flowers planted by bee-loving locals and school children, Abels Garden was until recently covered only in grass but is now a floral feeding station for bees. Oslos bee highway aims to give the insects a safe passage through the city, lined with relays providing food an shelterthe first such system in the world, according to the organisers. Participants in the projectstate bodies, companies, associations and private individualsare invited to post their contribution on a website www.polli.no, which maps out the bees route across the city. On the twelfth floor of an ultra modern office block in the capitals chic business district on the edge of Oslo fjord, a major accountancy firm has covered parts of its terrace in brightly flowering Sedum plants and two bee hives. It houses some 45,000 worker bees, busily unaware of their smart-suited office counterparts enjoying their lunch just metres away. One should see it as a sign that companies are also taking responsibility for preserving biodiversity, said accountant and bee-keeping enthusiast Marie Skjelbred. She convinced her employer to co-finance the project to the tune of 400,000 kroner ($51,348, 46,000 euros) along with the owners of the building. The workers live about 60 days, she explained with a glint in her eye. During their lives, they dont produce more than a spoon of honey, she added, before turning to her accountancy skills to do the maths.