50,000 new employees – bee colonies on the roof

By far the largest department is no longer hardware or software development, nor sensor production, but honey production. Two whole bee colonies are now taking care of the biodiversity of Munich’s flora from the fos4X company roof until November.

Interesting facts about bees

The two bee colonies located on the roof comprise approximately 50,000 honey bees, that belong to the Carnica breed– the most peaceful of all honey bee breeds, which is also known for its high honey production. „We bought the bees from a beekeeper in a local beekeeping association, afterwards we moved them here, to the top of the roof.“ – Florian Baumann, a coworker of fos4X, who was the initiator of fos4Beehive. Once a week he checks the beehives to carry out the swarm control. If the bees have enough space in the hive, as well as brood and honey hives, their well-being is ensured.

Some people think that an office complex in the middle of Munich cannot be a suitable place for bees. The location has been chosen perfectly: It is quiet on the roof of a small industrial estate, so that hardly anyone crosses the trajectories of the insects. In addition, the beehive is only a stone’s throw away from green parks and the Isar, that offer an excellent ambience and source of food with their variety of flowers. The insects fly directly into the green oasis and will remain almost unnoticed – even by the employees.

It is expected that 30 to 50 kg of honey can be harvested per year. The amount of the yield depends – similar to wind power – on the weather conditions. It is still uncertain whether the honey will only be used internally as a palate treat or whether the Isar honey will serve as a customer gift.

Why bees and fos4X?

Apart from the ideal location to keep bees, there are some parallels between fos4X and the bees. fos4X has grown strongly in the last year and has founded a subsidiary in China. Before and after the expansion and the increase to 100 employees, a kind of family flair is still noticable. Although fos4X is still missing one or the other employee to reach the 50,000 bench mark of the bee community, but nevertheless one sees: with both is the joint work for the realisation of a large project, in which everyone is needed, in the foreground. Cohesion is required.

Furthermore, it has become a matter of the heart for fos4X to act sustainably and environmentally conscious. The fos4Beehive initiative contributes significantly to this project. So our goals can be achieved now and in the future!