Our values
FREETHEBEES stands for sustainability, common sense and the common good.
Where the bee is concerned, we accept production up to the point where it is still possible to preserve the natural bee evolution, including the bee’s adaptability to environmental changes – we say yes to production but with the limitation that this does not entail irreversible depletion of the resources available to us.
We avoid making compromises in order to achieve short-term and shallow results: we always attempt to tackle problems at their roots and avoid measures that deal just with the symptoms.
As organization we accept full responsibility for our recommendations and acts. We act to the best of our knowledge and belief.
We fully respect fundamental natural principles that have been successfully leveraged by nature for millions of years. We do not purport to understand nature in all its details and we do not want to analyse it unless this is necessary for the purpose of finding a solution.
Our scientific council safeguards the quality of our works and is orientated towards the leaders of international and impartial (independent and value-based) science.
We offer our members an open, candid and constructively critical operating environment. If the respective financial means are available we appropriately remunerate professional work. We only engage in activities profoundly advancing our strategic objectives and avoid serving self-interest. We promote and support our active members – each on their own individual development path and at their individual pace.
Our communication is orientated towards specific and proven facts that have been independently verified in practice whenever possible. If necessary, we straightforwardly address also unpleasant matters, always with a calm and matter-of-fact attitude. We assume the position of independent observer while not identifying ourselves emotionally and personally with the cause in a manner that cannot be considered beneficial.
Our autonomy and independent ability to think are strengths that we will keep on developing and will not jeopardize.
Board FREETHEBEES
Thomas Fabian
Financial management
Business graduate, environmental economist
IT project manager
Raphaèle Piaget
Project Manager
Office
Strategic consulting
Scientific council
Mathias Binswanger
Allg. Wirtschaftswissenschaften, HSG
Dr. rer. pol., Uni Kassel
Professor für Volkswirtschaftslehre
Statutes
1. Name and registered office
Under the name FreeTheBees there exists an Association as defined by art. 60 et seqq. of the Swiss civil code.
The Association’s headquarters shall be at the place of domicile of its chairman or chairwoman.
2. Objectives of the Association
- Protection, promotion and diffusion of feral western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies that live independently of man in Switzerland
- Improving the environmental conditions for feral honey bees
- Sustaining and promoting biodiversity and genetic diversity through locally adapted honeybee species that are subjected to natural selection
- Support a species-appropriate, sustainable and modern bee guardianship able to meet both the ecological and the economic needs of man and nature
3. Background
Bee mortality has reached devastating proportions. In some regions, winter losses of some colonies have already exceeded 50%. In contemporary beekeeping, winter losses of approximately 10% are considered natural and normal. The honey bee is the third most important livestock animal after the cow and the pig. The bee’s extinction would have serious consequences for man and nature. Switzerland has only very few feral honey bee colonies left, most bees are the domesticated type for honey production. Natural selection, which ensures adaptability to environmental changes and consequently the sustainable and natural evolution of the western honey bee, has been eliminated to the greatest possible extent.
4. Principles of our work as an Association
FreeTheBees aims to build up a wild bee population to live side by side again with the traditionally kept honey bee. The aim of the Association FreeTheBees shall be to provide a service to the public and to pursue an altruistic, charitable and non-profit purpose. The funds of FreeTheBees shall at all times be bound to tax-exempt purposes. The members of the Association’s executive board are volunteers and, as a rule, shall only be entitled to receive compensation for their actual expenses and cash expenditures. FreeTheBees is acting independently of state, political and religious structures.
Statutes of the Association, third revision of August, 31 2020
Employment
Fundraising «Conservation without money is just conversation». Who wants to help us raise funds to finance projects as well as to enable us to professionalize the strategic overall management?
Development and support of honey label pilot project Who wants to help us with the launch of the new honey label ApiVita that is not exclusively orientated towards human consumption but rather towards animal welfare and the long-term survivability of the honeybee?
Coordination of the translation and maintenance of our trilingual website Currently, not all of our works have been translated although we would have some volunteer translators willing to help us. The more content that gets translated the bigger will be our impact in favour of the bee! Our first priority is French followed by English and Italian. Who wants to help us with the translation of our works and with updating our website online? Coordinator of legal aspects What lies at the root of the problem is the legal and scientific distinction between the honeybee as farm animal and as wild animal. The principles have been defined. Who wants to help us with drafting and achieving a policy decision? With this challenge, we are entering new legal and scientific territory.
Contact
Address
Verein FREETHEBEES, c/o A. Wermelinger, Route des Pierrettes 34, CH-1724 Montévraz