ATM Grupa acts green! We’ve joined the group of institutions that help save bees by installing hives on the roofs of their offices.
Urban apiaries
Hives on the roof? As it turns out, it’s not a novelty at all. Roof apiaries date back to 19th century Paris, and hives can still be seen, among other locations, on the roof of the Paris Opera House. Thanks to a regulation change from several years ago, the same can now be done in Poland. We will find apiaries, e.g. near the top of the Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science, as well as on the roofs of several shopping malls and government institutions in Warsaw and Wroclaw. Now, ATM Grupa has chosen to join that noble initiative. And it truly is noble, since bees are a vital component of our ecosystem.
What do bees do?
Bees appeared on Earth, scientists estimate, some one hundred million years ago! Despite what one would’ve thought, their role is not just manufacturing „hunny”, Winnie the Pooh’s favourite snack. It is actually thanks to bees that we can enjoy apples, pears, cherries or watermelons. And it doesn’t end there. Thanks to them, we can drink coffee and even wear our cotton t-shirts! When it comes to pollination, bees are undoubtedly the most efficient insects on Earth. They help plants everywhere produce seeds and fruit.
Hives on the roof of ATM
Hives were installed on our roof on the night of May 17th 2020. They came along with their tenants, bee families from a friendly apiary farm in Kłodzko Valley. It took us all winter to prepare for the arrival of the new „tenants”. A special frame needed to be designed and installed on the roof: the hives are now placed on top of it. Then, a bit of red tape, and we were ready!
The whole project is personally supervised by Piotr Niżyński – on a day-to-day basis head of administration at ATM – a keen beekeeper with over ten years of experience.