For the second year in a row, Guerlain is running a major international campaign for bee protection. Its goal remains the same: to gather €1 million within three days from 20TH to 22ND MAY to strengthen its “Guerlain for Bees Conservation Programme”. So many natural treasures and resources depend on the skillful handiwork of bees. For the House of Guerlain, making a commitment towards their protection means endeavoring to pass on the wonders of Nature to future generations, while safeguarding their future.
Imagine a world without bees
Imagine if there were no more sweet buzzings from those sometimes called “sentinels of the environment”. If bees were no longer to exist, most fruits, flowers and seeds would disappear forever, taking with them an infinite number of irreplaceable colours, flavours and smells.
Across the world, intensive farming, vanishing habitats, climate change and so forth are drastically impacting the health of bees, both wild and domestic.
As exceptional pollinators, bees are “essential to our food safety, nutrition and environment*”.
It is crucial for us to protect them, but this alone is not enough. We must also raise awareness around the importance of bee conservation for the world of today and tomorrow. This is why Guerlain is committed to teaching children about the cause of bees, thanks to its Bee School. Its programme ‘Women for Bees’, in partnership with UNESCO, also aims to train new women beekeepers at UNESCO's biosphere reserves.
The bee, a source of commitment
A guide for our commitment to sustainability endangered and now considered an environmental sentinel, beyond being a symbol, the bee has become a guide for Guerlain’s commitment to sustainability.
There is a harmony in Nature, a balance upon which biodiversity depends. Bees as an environmental sentinel are at the heart of this Biodiversity. Bearing witness to our times and at risk, bees play a fundamental role in the pollination that is necessary for flower and plant reproduction and for protecting our planet.
For us, the need to do our part (and even a little more) to protect it has become evident. We have dedicated nine meaningful partnerships and initiatives to bees:
- Sustainability sponsorship with the Brittany Black Bee Conservatory Association based on the island of Ouessant.
- Partnership with the French Observatory of Apidology (OFA) devoted to developing European beehive stocks and promoting the beekeeping profession.
- Alongside the OFA, creation of the Bee School, an awareness-building programme to teach young children about bee protection.
- Launch of Women for Bees in partnership with UNESCO which aims to train women beekeepers and create new beekeeping operations across the globe.
- Sponsorship with the GoodPlanet Foundation, an NGO created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, for raising young people’s awareness of bee conservation issues.
- Support for the ELYX Foundation, an association that works to promote UN sustainable development goals, co-created by artist Yacine Aït Kaci, He also created BEEZ, the Bee School emblem.
- Three-year sponsorship with the French Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
- Three-year sponsorship with the French National Museum of Natural History.
- Partnership with the Shan Shui Conservation Center NGO, in collaboration with the Chinese National Department of Education.
Guerlain X UNESCO a natural alliance
“Women for bees” is a women’s entrepreneurial bee keeping programme created by Guerlain in partnership with UNESCO – MAB (MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE) and in collaboration with the French Observatory of APIDOLOGY (OFA). Its goal is to develop landmark bee keeping operations within UNESCO biosphere reserves, some of which form part of the house’s sustainable supply network. The programme also aims to create an international network of women beekeepers who will be able to share their local and scientific knowledge on the crucial role of pollination and bees in ensuring food security for the planet.
The bee, a source of inspiration for our creations
Ever since they first landed on Guerlain’s iconic bee bottle in 1853, bees have continued to inspire Guerlain with the same infinite passion that galvanized Guerlain’s founder. Today, as a symbol of our house, bees continue to inspire Guerlain’s creations, adorn some of its most rare and precious bottles and an array of artistic creations and collaborations. As nature’s great alchemists, their honey with exceptional repairing properties infuses the eponymous Abeille Royale skincare line. While within the fresh Aqua Allegoria Eau De Toilette collection, they have escaped from some of the most beautiful gardens in the world which inspire the perfumer.
Guerlain, House of the Bee and Tomáš Libertíny
This World Bee Day, the house of Guerlain has teamed up with artist Tomáš Libertíny, who has been incorporating bees into his artworks for over fifteen years, in particular through sculptures co-constructed by honeybees. This encounter is in perfect harmony with the House’s history of merging environmental protection with artistic pursuits. In this spirit, Tomáš has adorned the Guerlain bee heart logo and Huile-en-Eau Abeille Royale with a sprinkling of flowers.
In collaboration with the artist, the House is also proposing a never-before-seen creation: the emblematic Bee Bottle is taken into a poetic and timeless universe. A work of art entirely made by bees.
Be a part of World Bee Day through donation activities which have two options during May 20th to 22nd, 2022
- Buy product at Guerlain Counter Siam Paragon M Floor: 20% of sales* will be donated to the Programme, including sales of the limited-edition Huile-en-Eau Abeille Royale, which has been dressed up for the occasion by Tomáš Libertíny.
- Repost from Guerlain Instagram: €20 donated for every repost of the visual created by Tomáš Libertíny including hashtags #GuerlainForBees and #WorldBeeDay