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11 September 2023: Preserving the Bees for the Sake of Our Planet!

Ten dedicated members of the Interhome from six different countries embarked on a train journey to Klagenfurt, Austria. Their mission was to deepen their understanding of biodiversity and to engage in voluntary work.

For the past two years, Interhome has collaborated with BEESark, located in Carinthia, to support a biodiversity initiative. BEESark selects over 35 indigenous flower species annually to support bee populations. Local farmer Peter Janezic in St. Jakob im Rosental devoted 100,000 m2 of land to cultivate these diverse flowers, creating a bee sanctuary. Even in September, the blooms buzzed with countless insects.

We joined a bee education excursion guided by bee expert Peter Lautemann from Moosburg to gain deeper insights into bee habitat, behaviour, and life cycle. Peter manages an organic farm with more than 100 bee colonies.

This project is a remarkable testament to regional biodiversity conservation. After two years, BEESark conducted soil tests confirming that our 100,000 square meters of flowering meadows reduced approximately 200 tons of CO2 emissions. This achievement marks a significant stride towards our goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.

We are immensely grateful to BEESark for their outstanding support and partnership, and we take great pride in our productive collaboration.

As part of our week of biodiversity and sustainability education in Carinthia, we visited the Hribar family in the mountains above the Trögener Kamm to learn about establishing permaculture gardens. We prepared the ground and laid the foundation for planting new flora in spring 2024.

The next day, we hiked up the mountain to plant 50 saplings. We chose five assorted species to create a diverse and climate-resistant woodland. Additionally, we erected a fence to shield them from deer and stag intrusions. Although the challenging terrain left us sweating, we appreciated our triumphs and looked forward to their imminent growth.

Our time in Carinthia was an inspiring week of biodiversity and sustainability education. Ten more colleagues will join us in spreading the message of sustainability within Interhome after this trip, with the hope that many more will follow.

11 July 2022: A bee paradise on the flowering meadows of Interhome

Interhome has had 100,000 m2 of flowering meadows sown by its partner BEESark to make an important contribution to biodiversity. Lena Unterkircher and Saskia Weber visited the bee meadows in Carinthia in Austria and are enthusiastic about the implementation.

The founder of BEESark, Matthias Breznik, is an original. His career leads via robot programming to hypnosis coach and environmental consultant to farmer. BEESark implements individual climate protection projects with regional sustainability on a new level. On behalf of Interhome, BEESark engaged organic farmer Peter Janezic, who converted 1/6 of his arable land into flowering meadows. After careful soil testing, countless regional flower species were planted here instead of corn or potatoes. The two fields are located around the idyllic village of Sankt Jakob im Rosenthal in Carinthia. Here, the flowers planted in spring are in bloom and are actively visited and pollinated by honeybees and wild bees. In the meadows, local beekeeper Franz Fugger has made his hives available. 75% of the bees active here are settled honey bees or house bees 25% are wild bees. 

The beekeeper Franz told us with much joy that he has already won a prize for his honey from these fields, for the fact that his honey is 100% free of pollutants. From the farmer Peter to the beekeeper to the employees of BEESark, everyone is working with a lot of sweat and heart to sow and maintain the flowering meadows and to offer the bees a paradise. The busy humming and buzzing in the fields is a joy to watch and listen to. The bees, as well as many other insects, obviously feel very much at home here and enjoy nature to the fullest. Next month the first cutting will be done by the farmer, so that the flower meadow will grow up again in all its splendor and the bees will find fresh flowers again. In the fall, the honey bees will be overwintered by the beekeeper; in the case of the wild bees, only the pregnant queen will be able to buzz again in the flowering meadows in 2023.

To ensure that this important contribution to biodiversity in the fields is measurable, BEESark has developed its own software to accurately calculate the CO2 balance of the flowering meadows. BEESark is both TÜV audited and ISO 9001 certified. 

For Lena and Saskia it was very impressive and wonderful to see and feel that the Interhome investments have landed 100% in the right hands with BEESark. BEESark is a partner that implements our sustainable goals exactly the way we wanted. Our on-site visit has solidified a good basis for further cooperation.

We are already looking forward to more reports on our flowering meadows and a new, fantastically colorful field in 2023.

>> Learn more about other sustainability projects supported by the Interhome