APIdays: "National Awareness Days for Bees, Environmental Sentinels"

©Direction de la Communication

Every June since 2011, the Principality has celebrated "APIdays", a program run by the Union Nationale de l’Apiculture Française (UNAF, French National Union of Beekeeping) to promote "Bees, Environmental Sentinels".

Since the beginning of this partnership in 2005, several beehives have been installed on the roof of the Museum of Philately and Coinage in Fontvieille. These hives are monitored by UNAF, with help from the gardening team from the Department of Urban Amenities.

This year, on Friday, 16 June and Saturday, 17 June from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, the Department of Urban Amenities are hosting free events for all ages in the UNESCO Garden on the Fontvieille Terraces. This is an opportunity for beekeepers to raise awareness and educate others about the crucial role of bees, the importance of protecting them and the development of French beekeeping.

The theme chosen by the UNAF is “Irreplaceable bees”. Students from Monaco’s Vocational and Catering School will be taking part in the event, presenting their connected beehive project.

The programme includes; a presentation on the benefits of melliferous plants, an exhibition on the “History of bees”, natural wax candle-making workshops, identifying different types of honey and discussions with the lead beekeeper who will demonstrate how to extract honey, along with games and quizzes.