Thanks to Audi Environmental Foundation, Lamborghini now has a new technological beehive in Lamborghini Park (All photos: Lamborghini)
An environmental biomonitoring project launched by Automobili Lamborghini in 2016 has grown in scope and numbers, the company announced as it celebrated World Bee Day on May 20. Its Lamborghini Park in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, now has 12 hives from an initial eight and 120,000 bees, part of a population of 600,000, foraging around the territory.
This year, a “technological beehive” was added to the apiary, with two video cameras installed inside and outside the hive so that beekeepers can observe the behaviour of the insects up close.
By analysing hive matrices, such as honey, wax and the bees themselves, entomological and apicultural experts can detect environmental pollutants — such as pesticides used in agriculture and on urban and private green spaces, heavy metals, aromatic compounds and dioxins — and use the data collected to mitigate pollution around Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Besides monitoring social bees, which fly within a 3km radius to collect nectar and pollen, the project is also looking at solitary bees, whose foraging radius is shorter (200m). Colonies of the latter, made up of reed houses located inside Lamborghini Park and near its production site, enable the experts to collect more data on the environmental impact of the site.
Lamborghini has been involved in the study of environmental sustainability since 2009. It was certified a CO2 neutral company in 2015 and has maintained that status even with the recent doubling of its production site.
This article first appeared on May 31, 2021 in The Edge Malaysia.
