ABOUT THE BEES
One of the first things we did when we arrived on Monte Preti was to get three bee families. They have since grown to 9 families - but the number of families fluctuates slightly each year. We like to think of them as our extended family, and we look after them in the same way that they look after us through pollinating. In many ways, it is a two-way communication, because the bees have made us plant fruit trees and flowers intended for them, and we can enjoy their gifts in the form of delicious honey. The bees are exposed to many challenges in recent years, climatic change, diseases and human practices make it a hard life to be a bee. And lately the arrival of the invasive Asian hornet, Vespa Velutina, has put them to the test further. But we are amazed by their ability to adapt and withstand. The bee is in many ways the perfect creature, social and altruistic, never selfish and destructive and we see them as small flying role models.