How These Danish Bees Give Hope to Refugees

[marmar]

How These Danish Bees Give Hope to Refugees




BY AGOSTINO PETRONI
7 MIN READAPR 2, 2021


(YES!) "It was wonderful before the war,” says Aref Haboo, a 48-year-old agricultural consultant describing Shie, the small village in the Afrin province of northern Syria he called home. There, for 18 years, Haboo had taken care of 50 honeybee colonies spread among olive groves, orange cultivations, and vineyards.

“If I got sad or stressed, I would make some food and coffee and go lie in the shade near the bees to see how they fly, how they collect nectar, and I would listen to them,” Haboo says.

But in December 2013, as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) started taking control of the country, he knew he had to leave. ISIS militants blocked the road to Haboo’s village and threatened to kill him. Haboo sold everything he owned and rented out his house to gather the $12,000 needed to flee the country.

....(snip)....

Since then—and in the face of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the European Union over the past decade—Bybi has worked to integrate new arrivals to Copenhagen by taking care of honeybees. With some 150 colonies in 30 locations across Copenhagen, Bybi employs marginalized people to plant flowers in windowsills, place beehives on rooftops, and harvest and pack honey. In so doing, the group is bringing the benefits of biodiversity to this urban area.

To further overcome social divides, Maxwell partners with nonprofits, businesses, and municipalities to try to involve as many people as possible in the world of beekeeping. Pia Staalgaard, the sustainability coordinator from the Frederiksberg Municipality, has been working with Bybi since 2016, keeping beehives at one of the municipality’s social institutions for people with severe autism. .............(more)

https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2021/04/02/denmark-refugees-honeybees

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. I fucking HATE war and fundamental religious zealots

That includes the ones in our country.

[RussellCattle]

2. What a great story. Hope for people rolled into hope for the environment. Thank you....

....for posting this, and bringing some attention to Yes Magazine, something new to me and also a source of hope.

[Karadeniz]

3. Fabulous story! I need to find flowers that don't need water!