We cannot continue to feed our world without pollinators, namely bees, which is why Argentina-based startup Beeflow is working to not only save the bees, but even make them more productive.
Like many other bee cultivators, Beeflow rents out their colonies to farmers to better pollinate the year’s crop and improve yield. What makes Beeflow’s bees different though is a well-researched combination of plant-based foods and molecules which, when fed to bees, actually reduces their mortality rate and improves their ability to survive in cold weather.
Beeflow’s nutritious food reduces bee mortality in their colonies by 70 percent. They pair this feed with their strategic ‘ToBEE methods,’ which helps train bees to seek out the crops they’ve been hired to pollinate, like almonds and blueberries. The startup’s pollination biologists also map out the most effective areas of a farm to place colonies for optimal pollination. The result is increased crop yields of up to 90 percent.
The startup was founded by Matias Viel. Most of their operations center around Latin America and the West Coast of the US, but with demand surging and a recently acquired $8.3 million in Series A funding, the company plans to scale up rapidly.