How we can support Irish bees, Nicole Cox, Siemens sustainability and DCs for bees initiative

Interesting conversation with Nicole Cox, who has been working to help promote awareness and support for Irish bees as part of her work at Siemens Ireland. Nicole also shared more information about how to find out more about bees and what can be done to help them. Here are the links for DC for Bees and the National BioDiversity Data Centre which have been particularly helpful. https://www.hostinireland.com/dc-s-for-bees https://pollinators.ie/resources/ To clarify two points – It is the red-tailed bumblebee which I am particularly fond of (I said red-bottomed by accident). Also rather than 10% of solitary bees, the number likely to use bee hotels/nest boxes is actually approximated to be 10 of the 77 native solitary bee species. As for Nature on our Doorsteps, copies were still available for sale at the Tallaght Library as of September and I’ve personally found it to be highly informative. https://www.echo.ie/show/article/nature-on-our-doorsteps-book-launch Nicole Cox is a volunteer beekeeper and DC (Data Centre) for Bees Ambassador on behalf of Siemens Ltd., Dublin. A smart meter data management consultant with Siemens Advanta since 2014, she has joined the Siemens Ltd. Sustainability group after moving to Dublin in June 2020. Sustainability is one of the key pillars of the overall Zero Harm Culture at Siemens Ltd. which seeks to grow initiatives such as personal wellbeing, health and safety, thinking green, and giving back to the community. As a partner with Host in Ireland, the overall goal of DC for Bees and Siemens’ Sustainability group is to raise awareness of the importance of Irish pollinators and encourage changes to support the local ecosystem on a corporate and individual level. More about DCs for Bees Why Are We Doing This? As well as helping fight one of the greatest threats not only to bees but to the entire planet there are numerous benefits to coming together as an industry for this initiative: Snowball effect: Act as an exemplar for other industries to follow suit and make a real difference ​Community with a common purpose: Bring an industry together in a way that has never been done before Awareness: Reach a far wider audience than the Native Woodland Trust or the National Biodiversity Data Centre could do alone ​​Meaningful Action: Help businesses to create and supplement a meaningful CSR programme Go global: This programme can act as a blueprint for our members' businesses to make an even bigger impact within their global offices Do the right thing right: People in the industry want to make a difference but it's not always clear how to go about it in a way that doesn't create unintended consequences. By working with the Native Woodland Trust and the National Biodiversity Data Centre we can do our very best to ensure the actions we take are the right ones and as impactful as possible.”