Our Mission

Our foundation’s mission can be summarized in four primary objectives, which we consistently work towards each year:

1. Collaboration: Building Strong Networks for Bigger Impact

Building meaningful partnerships is at the core of what we do. Over the years, we’ve cultivated collaborations with a wide variety of organizations, all contributing to our mission to conserve native bees and their ecosystems in Colombia. These partnerships enhance the reach and efficacy of our collective efforts. Discover who we’re already working with [here]. We are always open to forming new alliances. If you’re interested in joining forces, don’t hesitate to reach out! Contact us here.

2. Education: Spreading Awareness of Native Bees and Biodiversity

We truly believe that when you know better, you do better. That’s why we’re all about spreading the word on the vital role of native bees and the importance of biodiversity. We engage children between the ages of 5 and 16 through interactive workshops, sparking curiosity about the world they live in. Want to see where we’ve taught so far? Check out our interactive map. Using creative methods like our educational puppet show, we make learning about pollinators and biodiversity a fun ride. In addition, we offer hands-on beekeeping lessons, often right at people’s homes, creating a unique learning experience for entire families. But it doesn’t stop there. Through educational booklets, social media content, and talks on various platforms, we make sure our message about native bees, pollination, and biodiversity reaches as many people as possible.

3. Conservation: Safeguarding Our Stingless Friends and Boosting Biodiversity

Protecting stingless bees and enhancing biodiversity is at the core of what we do. It’s all about setting up safe spaces for bees, known as meliponaries, where these precious pollinators can flourish. So far, we’ve established three meliponaries, home to 62 hives representing seven distinct species of stingless bees, solitary bee hotels, and a variety of native trees and plants.

Our flagship meliponary, The Najil Cab Bee Sanctuary, is nestled in the town of Alto de la Mina, Caldas, Colombia. The other two bee havens, Villa Abeja and La Julita, are located in Kilómetro 41, Caldas, and at the Technological University of Pereira, Risaralda, respectively. You can find their exact locations on our interactive map.

We don’t just focus on our meliponaries. We also provide new hives to schools and aspiring beekeepers we collaborate with, and we’re dedicated to improving the biodiversity in our region. How do we do that exactly? Through various reforestation projects and by nurturing native plants and trees in our nursery. These green gems are then planted in the local area with the helping hands of students and beekeepers. Each tree we plant, each hive we establish, underlines the vital role we all play in maintaining and enhancing biodiversity.

4. Research: Expanding Our Understanding of Bees and Their World

“You can’t protect what you don’t know.” We live by this motto at our foundation. And this is why research is a key part of our mission. Our studies on different stingless bee species and their environments do more than just add to our educational materials. They guide our conservation and bee care strategies. We regularly go out into the field to study how plants and bees interact. These trips help us create floral calendars, which give us insights into how plant species and bee ecology change over time.

Our team has worked hard on understanding what pollen our bees collect and identifying the different bee species. We’re looking forward to sharing our findings in a scientific article we’re working on. We’re always eager to learn more through academic exchanges with research groups and we’re aiming to present our work at least once a year at academic conferences. Every piece of knowledge we gain helps us better protect our buzzing friends and the diverse world they live in.