Help Diogo rebuild his bee colonies after the fire

This last week, Northern Portugal was ravaged by wild fires, and we were absolutely devastated to hear from our friend Diogo that he lost many of his thriving apiaries and colonies of bees.

You’ve met Diogo in our YouTube videos, many of you commenting on how much you’ve loved the episodes where he’s joined us, impressed with his energy, enthusiasm and passion for what he does. Diogo is setting up a beekeeping cooperative called Bee Guardians, to support beekeepers in our local area, with a special focus on helping them rebuild after suffering losses from annual wild fires. This year, that focus is more important than ever as Diogo and his beekeeping friends themselves, feel the devastating loss of their previously thriving colonies.

A loss like this is heartbreaking, and we want to do whatever we can to help him rebuild, and to give you some idea of the extent of the damages, this is what we're talking about:

52 colonies lost = €9880

22 hornet trap harps = €990

3 solar power kits for the harps = €450

500 - 600kg of honey at €10 per kg = €6,000

Diogo remains with 73 colonies of his own, and 42 from the community without pasture or adequate foraging land. We're hoping to bring some of those onto our farm to offer respite for them through the winter. More on that soon.

The financial losses are truly staggering, totalling over €15,000. We wanted to help in whatever way we can, and using our reach to all of you lovely people is one way we can do that. Please know that any amount that you are able to spare, would be so deeply appreciated. All the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to Diogo and our local beekeepers re-establish colonies of healthy bees, buying hives, food, equipment and of course breeding the new colonies that we so desperately need.

If you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse into the truly remarkable world of bees on our videos we would be so grateful if you’d help us get Diogo and his friends back on their feet. No amount is too small, if bees could teach us anything it’s that often it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference. Without bees we are nothing.

We've never done anything like this with our community, and we hope you'll join us in making a difference. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being the best online community we could have ever wished for, and for your support. It means more than the world.

Lots of love,

Tara, John, Diogo and the Newby boys

P.S. When you make a donation GoFundMe ask for a “tip”. This is completely voluntary and you can use the slider to take it right down to zero if you just want to donate to Diogo.