At Godelia we work with the resources that our region, El Bierzo, provides us with. We are always respectful of the environment and have learned that balance is born of knowing how to observe and listen to nature, respecting our area’s biodiversity.
Our vineyards are located near biodiversity preserves. In the case of bees (with hives next to the winery and a few of our vineyards), as pollinating insects they are responsible for about 80% of the pollination of the plant world. As such, they play an essential role in the reproduction of vine flowers and maintain vineyard biodiversity.
Not so long ago, at Godelia we sponsored one of the beehives that our friends from Miel Camino de Santiago work with. With this small gesture we hope to help the rural world and promote our area’s pollination. Some 20,000 bees pollinate up to 20 million flowers a day. (We’d like to encourage you to sponsor your own by clicking here.)
For the bees to live near our vineyards in a healthy environment, we have to drastically cut back on the use of insecticides and chemicals there. The use of insecticides is the main cause today of bees’ disappearance. A drastic decline in the bee population would in turn have a catastrophic effect on agriculture and the world economy. According to the FAO, more than 70% of the crops that provide 90% of the world’s food depend on bee pollination.
In the vineyard world, bees–unlike wasps–are not attracted to grapes, so they have no negative effect on the vineyard or production. Just the opposite. Several studies have shown that the presence of bees in the vineyard can increase grape production by up to 10%.
