Water treatment and bees?

Some readers may be wondering: what is this about? What does water treatment have to do with bees? At first, nothing, at least not directly. Bees have become a focus of media coverage and public awareness. People in Europe are noticing fewer and fewer bees in nature. Along with excessively hot summers, melting glaciers in the Alps or Greenland, and plastic in the oceans, more and more people are realizing that something is changing. Bees have come to stand for all these problems and have become a symbol of these changes. Perhaps this is also because the problem is so close to us and more tangible than an accumulation of plastic somewhere in the Pacific.

Of course, all this is hotly debated. Some attribute the decline in insects to the increased use of herbicides in agriculture. Others say intensive farming and monocultures make it increasingly difficult for insects, especially wild bees, to find enough food. The sharp decline in the number of beekeepers has certainly played a major role in the decline in bee colonies since the 1990s. And some are firmly convinced that everything is still as it used to be. As so often, the truth lies somewhere in between. The only certainty is that the relationships are extremely complex, making it difficult to identify any one factor as the sole cause. It does seem certain, however, that as long as there are beekeepers, bees are very unlikely to become extinct.

And that brings us full circle. Merus supports bees financially, or more precisely a Bioland-certified apiary on the southwestern edge of the Schönbuch. This makes beekeeping a little more attractive as a profession, and we support this sustainable work. The bees enjoy the meadow orchards on a sunny southwest-facing slope. We are looking forward to the sustainably and organically produced honey. Many people around us have already signed up to buy this honey.

Sustainable water treatment does not help bees directly. But Merus Rings, for example, avoid the use of biocides at sea. There may be no bees there, but the fish are certainly glad of it.