Dow provides space for bees and flowers
There are 350 species of bees in the Netherlands, of which more than 220 are found in Zeeland. The wild bees are of great importance to humans because of the pollination of fruit. However, half of the bee species are in serious decline. Dow wants to show from their Valuing Nature sustainability goal that ecology and economy do not have to get in each other’s way.
Bee hotels
Therefore, it has placed three large bee hotels on its property. It has also planted a large field of native flowers and herbs so that the bees can find food all year round. In doing so, Dow hopes to make a (small) contribution to their recovery. The 2B Connect project is supervised by Landschapsbeheer Zeeland (SLZ) and ZMf (Zeeuwse Milieufederatie) and financially supported by the municipality of Terneuzen.
Workshop making bee hotels
The employee also benefits: the field is a colorful accent in the industrial work environment. In addition, as part of Sustainability Day on 10 October, Dow organized a workshop on making bee hotels for its employees and their families, led by a volunteer from Natuur en Zo. During this workshop people learned how to make an insect hotel for their own garden using waste streams from home and garden. The intention is to share the bee observations with each other next spring. Everyone had a lot of fun that evening; they each went home with a unique bee hotel. They also shared how you can turn your garden into a food paradise for the bee, or as one of the employees put it: a real Mc Flowers. In the spring Dow will send out green tips for this.
