BOSTON– Alvéole, the Canadian urban beekeeping company, is expanding into 12 new major cities, including Boston, throughout North America, as well as five in Europe. This arrival has been eagerly awaited by many companies who want to join the movement towards the development of greater biodiversity in urban areas.
Installing beehives on their roofs or grounds gives these companies an opportunity to optimize unused spaces and contribute to their sustainable development efforts.
In an exclusive video interview with Boston Real Estate Times, Alvéole Regional Manager Shelby Schulman talks about this new type of sustainable development and bio-diversity. To watch the interview, please click here or on the image below.
Approximately 50,000 new tenants per hive will arrive within the Canadian cities of Halifax,Kitchener, Waterloo, and Victoria. The US cities of Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Sacramento, in addition to the European cities of Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Berlin will also be hosting new arrivals.
In August 2021, the real estate giant Goldman Sachs Asset Management (assets of $2 Trillion) inaugurated its first 30 sites or apiaries on the roofs of buildings they manage in the United States.
The company sees this as a concrete gesture to protect and preserve a threatened species like honey bees and represents an important step forward in scaling up environmental conservation, which represent the cornerstones of Alvéole’s mission.
Bees, an essential link in our food-supply chain
Alarmingly, North America has lost over 50% of its honey bee colonies over the past decade. Alex McLean, President and Co-Founder of Alvéole, explains the fundamental role that foraging insects play in maintaining healthy biodiversity: “Bees pollinate up to 70% of our food crops. Beyond promoting urban biodiversity, beekeeping serves primarily to create awareness in urban populations, connecting people to the role pollinators play in our ecosystem and the health of the nature that surrounds us.”
A social investment
The trend towards more welcoming and attractive post-pandemic work and living environments ultimately involves adding a little nature to the decor. A partnership with Alvéole offers companies a turn-key solution by installing beehives on site, facilitating workshops and setting up a social media platform, which explains the roles and steps taken by their neighbors. To date, more than 120,000 people have taken part in these outstanding activities offered by Alvéole within their communities.
Several have even used them as team-building activities.
An ecological and sustainable investment
Installing beehives allows organizations to use their unused spaces as part of their sustainable development plans. The bees’ arrival can also be a prelude to the development of other green spaces on the premises, or even a new common space for people to enjoy. In addition, given their role as pollinators, bees contribute to the beautification of their neighborhood within a radius of 5 km.
Great allies for a good neighborhood!
Meanwhile, bringing thousands of workers back to the office will certainly have an impact on the environment. In fact, a working committee at the recent climate change summit, COP26, estimated that commercial real estate was the cause of up to 40% of global carbon emissions. This is another great reason to give nature a helping hand by installing beehives on urban roofs.
Alvéole was founded in 2013 and currently manages nearly 3,400 beehives, mostly installed on roofs or grounds of almost 600 companies, schools and organizations within North America and Europe. Beyond the establishment and maintenance of hundreds of bee colonies in urban areas, Alvéole is a social enterprise focused on environmental education. By embracing urban beekeeping, the community gains an educational, unifying and stimulating initiative where those who observe the bees at work can build a strong sense of connection with the urban ecosystem. Alvéole is currently recruiting as part of a major expansion into international markets.
