Rexel and Goodman care for honeybees at a logistics centre in Leipzig

Honeybee

Humming inside and buzzing outside – this is one way of describing the hustle and bustle at the Goodman Logistics Centre in the Leipzig Freight Village South. Inside, the business of the new customer Rexel Germany is humming, while, outside, the beehives installed by the company are buzzing.

Roughly halfway between Valencia and Zaragoza in Spain, you will find Castellote. Not far from this village, a cave painting with a very early depiction of honey harvesting was discovered last summer – the image, painted around 7,500 years ago, shows someone climbing up a ladder to retrieve honey from a beehive.

This discovery shows just how long there has been a relationship between humans and honeybees, the smallest agricultural animal. While we could do without any meat, milk or eggs, the honeybee is indispensable – but not due to its honey, despite the fact that, according to the German Association of Beekeepers, the average German still eats around a kilogramme of it each year.

Albert Einstein is said to have once stated the importance of honeybees very dramatically: "No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants. If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live".

The little honeybee has a huge economic impact
Small though it may be, the honeybee has a huge economic impact, according to the German Association of Beekeepers: around 85 percent of agricultural yields relating to crop and fruit production in Germany depend on pollination by honeybees.

This is reason enough to care for the honeybee, but, in addition to this, they have been affected by the decline in bee populations for years now. This is precisely where Goodman comes in, together with the electronics wholesaler Rexel Germany, which has been the new customer of the Goodman Logistics Centre in the Leipzig Freight Village South since January 2022. The company supplies industry, trade and the public sector with electronic components and services relating to energy monitoring, supply chain and digitalisation.

Honeybees

Multiple bee colonies in one home
In the spring of 2022, Goodman set up beehives in its outdoor area with the assistance of a local beekeeper, who is providing expert support as the company gives a home to multiple bee colonies. Rexel will share the annual costs of looking after the beehives with Goodman.

Nicole Steuer, who is responsible for ESG at Rexel Germany, explains the project: "As a company, we take our social responsibility very seriously. Among other things, we have committed to complying with the ten principles of the UN Global Compact – one of the four areas of this initiative is environmental protection. When it comes to environmental and species protection, we are active in many different ways in Germany, from reforestation projects to the installation of insect hotels at our properties. We are, of course, delighted to be able to offer the endangered honeybee a place to live on the site of our logistics centre. Incidentally, on the occasion of World Earth Day on 22 April, we just had nationwide campaigns for the preservation of biodiversity at all our locations.”

"Rexel and Goodman have very similar stances when it comes to the principles that should guide a company's actions", says Christof Prange, Head of Business Development at Goodman Germany. "Safeguarding biodiversity is part of our sustainability strategy GreenSpace+, which we implement at all of our sites."

Rexel and Goodman care for honeybees at a logistics centre in Leipzig

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