Thomas Zelenka was already passionate about beekeeping in the cradle. Out of conviction and passion, he dedicated himself to bees 9 years ago: "Bees are wild animals and all I can do is to create a perfect environment for them. I look for gathering points, provide natural wooden dwellings and take good care of my colonies." In the meantime, the hobby has turned into a profession and Thomas Zelenka is happy about nine million diligent employees in a total of 130 beehives, which he cares for in and around Vienna.

But it is not only the common conviction that everyone should make a contribution to sustainable living that connects the Zelenka beekeeping with ETHERMA, but also the bees and honey themselves. For example, honey and infrared heat are said to have a health-promoting effect. And warmth is also essential for bees. The bee organism is programmed in such a way that in the middle of a hive, where the sensitive brood is located, there is always a constant temperature of 35 degrees - in summer and winter. In order to lower the temperatures in summer, specialized bees distribute water in the beehive and fan their wings so that the liquid evaporates. On the other hand, if the temperatures drop, so-called heater bees themselves become the stove by generating heat by trembling muscles and rubbing their wings.

By sponsoring bees, we want to support these amazing and indispensable creatures and help ensure that they continue to pollinate flowers and thus ensure the lives of all of us.

In 2018, Uwe Bentner and Christian Schmid passionately founded the small, natural beekeeping Bienesto with a focus on sustainability and bee welfare in Ulm and have been devoting every free minute to beekeeping and their bees ever since. Right from the start, it wasn't about the highest possible honey yields and profit maximization, but the focus is on the well-being of the bees. Therefore, beekeeping as species-appropriate as possible is at the center of their efforts.

With this, the two beekeepers looked into ETHERMA's heart. We are happy to support the organic beekeeping Biensto with the bee sponsorship for 4 colonies and thus support the continued existence of the bees. Because the honey bee pollinates around 80% of domestic useful and wild plants. Without the bees, honey can be imported, but the bees cannot pollinate.

Here are a few more bee facts:

• Queen bees lay up to 2500 eggs a day, which is several times their body weight.

• One teaspoon of honey is the life's work of 8 bees.

• Bees are ancient animals, they have been around since the Cretaceous 110 million years ago.

• Bees flap their wings up to 250 per second.

• A bee would have to fly around the world almost twice for a jar of honey.

• The economic pollination performance of bees in Germany amounts to two billion euros per year.

• Bees and humans share 762 genes.

• A bee covers around 8,000 kilometers in its life

In Hof van Twente, a group of local beekeepers decided to set up a community workshop for the production of honey. The beekeepers' beehives are all in the immediate vicinity. So far, however, every beekeeper has processed his honey at home - not an ideal situation. That is why the beekeepers have taken the initiative together to erect a building on the municipal farm in Goor, in which they can do their work together. The project is funded by a European grant and by the municipality of Hof van Twente.

ETHERMA Benelux BV would like to support this important work of beekeepers and thus make a contribution to ecology and biodiversity. Because bees play a central role in this. For the next three years, ETHERMA will therefore purchase the organic honey from this beekeeping group and also support the beekeeping community financially in purchasing the equipment they need.

The family and project circus Proscho gives students the opportunity to become little artists themselves and to explore and try out many different disciplines in the familiar circus atmosphere, such as acrobatics, tightrope, trapeze, clowning, hula hoop and wine glass balance. At the end of each project week, the students present the skills they have learned to their families, friends, acquaintances, classmates and other interested parties. This not only gives these young people an insight into the circus world, but also the opportunity to get to know their own abilities and limits and, if necessary, to overcome them. Skills and talents are discovered and nurtured in the casual circus environment. The educational-artistic circus work strengthens the cohesion of the class and school community and promotes the learning behavior of the children.

Due to Covid-19, the popular project circus had to remain closed for a long time, which primarily caused financial losses that hit the Maatz family hard. Especially in the cold season there was a lack of means to install proper heating in the outdated circus caravans. Together with other partners, ETHERMA helped quickly and easily. The ETHERMA Laminotherm heating mats could be installed within a few days of delivery and have kept the caravans cozy and warm ever since.

The Boy Scouts in Delden are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year with a variety of activities. The highlight of the anniversary year was a large-scale camp on the Cramersweide in the center of Delden, where the members of the group camped for one night.

In addition to a tent camp and various activities, a large exhibition tent on the subject of 75 years of scouting was set up in Delden. The group consists of about 150 members. Weekly activities are offered for young people between the ages of 6 and 18.

Nature and sustainability have always been a central theme for the Boy Scouts. The goals of the scouting are in line with the goals of the ETHERMA eCARE program. For this reason, ETHERMA Benelux BV has supported the scout group in Delden.

The ice hockey club EHC Voralpenkings Vöcklabruck, founded in the summer of 2003, has continued to grow over the years, so that today it has 120 members in 5 teams and had around 200 ice times in the 2019/2020 season with training sessions, events and games. Due to the strong growth, the need for a larger clubhouse has now arisen, where young and old can meet, discuss and exchange ideas. Youth work is one of the cornerstones of eCARE for ETHERMA and we are therefore pleased to support the EHC Voralpenkings Vöcklabruck clubhouse project with our modern and efficient infrared heaters. Because especially in the cold season, you like it cozy and warm inside.

On a cool winter day in early 2022, the young members of the Boy Scouts of the Van Rossum Elisabeth group in Delden (the Netherlands) were busy building their own bird nests. They started their first project of the new year with a hammer. Practical handicraft instructions and kits were sponsored by ETHERMA Benelux BV. Although the 28 building kits were almost identical, the free interpretation of the building instructions ensured that each child built their own unique home. Most houses had metal woodpecker shelters, but some were purpose-built to protect the winged woodpecker, painted dark green paint (outside) and allowed to dry for a week. These houses will be used by the youth members to make up for the lack of birdhouses in the gardens in Delden and the surrounding area this spring. Inspired by the young people's manual skills and their awareness of the benefits of biodiversity, self-made birdhouses will soon be set up in the surrounding forest areas. "The scouts and their members would like to thank the Hofvogels Foundation for their commitment to biodiversity in Twente in general and to the birds in particular. Without the sponsorship of ETHERMA Benelux BV we could not have made this so beautiful for the children."

On Saturday 5 March 2022 a number of ETHERMA Benelux volunteers rolled up their sleeves. We have created an "ETHERMA Forest" by planting approximately 350 trees! This of course benefits the CO2 reduction, but we also wanted to contribute to biodiversity. In this way we make the area in Bentelo (Netherlands) more accessible for birds. The successful day will end with a campfire and a burger.

After many months without face-to-face meetings, the joy was all the greater. ETHERMA started spring with the long overdue 40-year celebration. Under the motto "Electrifying colorful celebration" a colorful party was celebrated and the colorful future heralded. The Austrian, German and Dutch ETHERMA team celebrated together with representatives of the partner Viessmann and had the opportunity to take a look at the beginnings and founding time of ETHERMA. Unfortunately, since there are not only positive topics these days, a donation of €10,000 was also handed over for Ukraine that evening.