Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Bees in Flanders are dying due to pollen shortages. Apix Biosciences (Winge) created protein-rich bee food. Led by Thierry Bogaert, it raised €22M. Expert Ellen Danneels supports the idea.
As VRT News reported, bees in Flanders are in big trouble. Almost one in three wild bee species is now at risk of disappearing, and more and more honeybee colonies are dying. Environmentalists mentioned that bees are very important because they help plants grow by spreading pollen from one flower to another. Without bees, we might not have fruits like apples or vegetables.
According to officials, the problem has many causes. Farmers use chemicals that harm bees, a small bug called the varroa mite makes them sick, and there are fewer flowers around. Bees need flowers to find food, but meadows and wild plants are vanishing.
Nectar gives bees sugar and is easy to replace with sweet water. But pollen is different. It has special proteins and nutrients that bees need to stay healthy. The queen bee especially needs pollen to lay eggs and grow the bee family. Without it, the whole hive can be in danger.
What is Apix’s €22M bee food, and can it solve the pollen shortage?
Apix Biosciences, a company from West Flanders, is making special food for bees. Bees are dying because they do not find enough flowers. The company wants to help stop this. Their new food is made to be like pollen. They mentioned that pollen has proteins that bees need to live and grow. The queen bee needs it to lay eggs. Without it, the hive cannot survive.
The new food helps bees when there is not enough pollen in nature. Thierry Bogaert leads the company. He says this food can support bees during hard times. Ellen Danneels from Ghent University also says pollen is very important. This food is not a full fix, but it can help bees stay strong for now.
“Many flowers only bloom for a certain period. That starts to slow down a bit in July, and by autumn we have real shortages,”
Danneels explains.
“And now that the Asian hornet is here. ” It’s deliberately killing honeybees. “The bees are afraid to fly out and can no longer get food.”
Ellen Danneels’ says bees could be fed without leaving the hive if the right food is given to them. That is what Apix Biosciences is trying to do. The company is making a soft food, like nougat or dough, that can take the place of pollen. It is not like sugar water, which only gives energy. This new food has proteins and other things bees need for their whole life.
“You can provide food in two ways: with a kind of syrup, often honey or sugar syrup, to replace the nectar, or with a dough. That’s quite easy because you can simply place it on top of the feeding board with a hole in it, and the bees can then eat it themselves,”
Danneels explains.
Thierry Bogaert, the boss of Apix Biosciences, says their new bee food is very special. He explains that no one has ever made a food that helps a bee stay healthy from birth to the end of its life. He says it is like dog or cat food, which gives pets all they need as they grow.
Apix Biosciences first started in the UK, using science from universities in England, South Africa, and Israel. Bogaert believed in the idea and moved the company to Winge, Belgium, 4 years ago. Since then, the company has grown fast. At first, they had €6 million to build the project. Now, Bogaert has raised €22 million more to make the product faster and better.
“I think there will be a lot of interest,”
Says Danneels.
“We’ve been struggling with the pollen shortage for a while now.”
