(Photo By: BEEWISE)
By: Diana Bletter - June 17, 2021
Albert Einstein reportedly said that mankind could not survive the disappearance of honey bees for more than four years. He understood that bees are the world’s most valuable species. Yet today, studies show that as much as 35% of the world’s bees are dying each year. And if honey bees become extinct, the global food chain will collapse, and Einstein’s reputed words will be eerily prophetic.
Beewise, a start-up company on Kibbutz Beit HaEmek in the Western Galilee, aspires to save the honey bee. It has developed the world’s first – and only – robotic beehive that will help avert the honey bee’s fate.
In the start-up company’s office, founder and CEO Saar Safra, 46, who is soft-spoken and amiable, grew earnest when he talked about the urgent problem of saving the bees. There are eight billion people on the planet and bees pollinate 30% of all the vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts that people eat. To give it more of a visceral impact, Safra said that every third bite you eat depends on the health and productivity of honey bees.
Read More: Jerusalem Post