Carlo Amodeo
"Quando sei in uno stato di completo rilassamento e devi andare in superficie perché non c'è più ossigeno, allora diventi tutt'uno con il mondo intero e ti avvicini molto all'esistenza di un'ape.
"When you are in a complete state of relaxation and you have to go to the surface because there is no more oxygen, then you become one with the whole world and come very close to the existence of a bee.
"L'azzurro del mare e del cielo si uniscono e tu non esisti più. È bello quando ti sei rotto."
"The blue of the sea and the sky combine and you no longer exist. That's nice when you've stoped existing."
Today I saw a documentary about an Apnoe diver who discovered a wild bee hive 30 years ago.
The name of the man is Carlo Amodeo and he is the savior of the black bees of Sicily - L'ape nera sicula.
30 years ago he found 3 wild families of the bees and saved them from extinction.
The black bee is a descendant of the African bee and developed into its own subspecies.
Bees are said to be one of the oldest animals living on this planet and the Sicilian black bee is said to live on Sicily since the Ice age.
So 30 years ago Carlo Amodeo found the last 3 bee hives of L'ape nera sicula next to the Castello di Carini, near the city of Palermo.
It was in the 1970s/80s when beekeepers of Sicily abandoned the black bees and the traditional way of keeping them in Bugnis, square housings made of fennel wood.
Instead they started to import the yellow honey bee, now known as the Italian bee.
They abandoned the black bees because they had no idea of how to breed them.
All that the beekeepers back in those days thought about was the productivity of the bees.
The cooperations of beekeepers had no one to talk to about that issue or to ask for help, so instead of trying to keep the black bee they bought the yellow bees to continue to produce honey.
That was almost the death sentence for the traditional black bee of Sicily.
The Black Sicilian Bee is said to be a very productive and gentle bee, less aggressive and able to deal with harsh temperatures.
That's why they are reintroduced and breed on the small islands of Sicily. Filicudi, Vulcano, even Lampedusa.
Besides being gentle and productive, the most important feature of the Black Sicilian Bee is that she can live with the Varroa mite.
The Varroa mite is considered to be one of the main factors, next to humans, in the big bee dying all over the world.
The mite was introduced to the world by trade and travel and became a threat to all bees and therefor to humanity.
When the bees are gone it takes 4 years until extinction of life on earth.
L'ape nera sicula is able to live with the mite, but only when strong and healthy. It is the only natural bee that can do so and therefor breeding them became a rescue mission for all other bees.
Around 10 years ago Carlo Amodeo was able to help out when there was this massive bee dying. He exported his Nera sicula queens to Europe and can for sure be named the "Bee Savior".
He is keeping his bees on the little offshore islands of Sicily, Filicudi and Vulcano.
No other bees are living there and he can breed pure-bred black Sicilian bees (Apis mellifera sicula).
The islands are an important genetic database due to the isolation.
He is trying to breed the F2 type, which turns out to be the strongest generation. They can deal with a lot of stressors, not only the mite that is killing millions of bees.
Carlo is having the bees living with this mite on purpose, to create a natural way of dealing with it. They form a symbiosis where both species can survive with each other.
The universities of Palermo and Catania are working closely with Amodeo to fulfill the goal of breeding pure black bees.
They are helping in advertising the benefits of not breeding a super bee that is made of all kinds of bee types, but to breed a healthy original pure bred bee that can deal with the surroundings.
With including more and more beekeepers, and teaching them the benefits, they might be able to prevent the world wide bee extinction.
Carlo is doing stress test with his bees each year by bringing them to the mainland.
Bees are sensitive to change. Most of all, monocultures are a problem for them.
Only the F2 generation of the Black Sicilian bee can handle it.
They tested bee hives in a clove field which is monocultural for bees. The F2 generation was able to endure the stress test there.
Did you know that a bee has to fly approximately 75.000 km, which equals 2x flying around the world, to produce about 1kg of honey?
Next time you have a spoon full of honey worship it, knowing what the bee had gone through for you to eat the honey.
Even Sicilys authorities are on board with saving the black bees.
In the "Valley of temples" in Agrigento, Sicily they also introduced the L'ape nera sicula again.
Authorities are supporting a breeding station there to keep the bees alive.
In the "Giardino della Kolymbethra", near the "Valle dei templi", Agrigento, the oldest citrus grove is located and that is why they wanna bring the bees back.
Vergil, an ancient roman poet (70-19 B.C.) was describing the bees already.
Archaeologist as well as authorities are supporting the re-introduction of l'ape nera sicula in it's original surroundings to preserve fauna and flora within the temples. But also the cultural aspect of the animals and plants being located there.
They also introduced the Girgentana goat back to the area and now the bees.
In Nebrodi, a mountain range in North East Sicily Carlo is also keeping bees for breeding.
The Nebrodi mountain range has the highest elevation and only the Black Sicilian bee is able to survive there and thrive, due to the temperatures.
Monte Nebrodi is the most biodiverse area in Sicily next to mount Etna.
So all in all this documentary showed the great mind of a very humbled man, the Bee Savior.
What impressed me was his philosophical way of thinking and the deep respect he is having towards nature.
He understands that diversity is what we need, that education and an open mind can lead us to something better, that being vain is nothing that helps us develop.
He understands cooperation and is helping with slowly reaching the minds off other beekeepers.
He is advertising a natural way of dealing with issues, like the fact that he is having his bees live with the Varroa destructor, instead of treating them chemically.
He is also warning all of us, to respect our planet and we all need to save our home from the destruction us humans have put upon it.
Don't let the greed of companies fool us in thinking materialistic, let us all wake up.
L'ape nera sicula can become the savior of the worlds bee population and an ambassador for diversity.
If we save the bees we are saving ourselves!
https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/slow-food-presidia/sicilian-black-bee/
https://www.amodeocarlo.com/it/
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