Page 36 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 02.18

Write to me at: facebook.com/ppickhuben PETER PICKHUBEN’S PINBOARD
36 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2018
© Institute for Hygiene and the Environment
Water data always available in Hamburg
Those who pursue watersports might want to know the water quality of the Bille, Alster etc. No problem: The water data Hamburg app issued by the Institute for Hygiene and Environ- ment in Hamburg is always up to date. It is continually fed with values such as chlorophyll content, water temperature and algae development. Data is updated hourly, as the various monitoring stations in Hamburg’s waters, a total of ten check and provide data every hour. A map function in the app shows the exact locations of the monitoring stations. Individual val- ues have long been available on the Institute’s webpage but the app makes it easier for all an- glers, water sports fans and hobby biologists to access. The monitoring data is shown in easy to see graphs or lists. In addition, a web service makes it possible to export the data or to show it on other webpages or apps.
Hamburg is the first German federal state to have an app of this kind. A free download is available from Google (Android) or Apple (iOS).
PORT BEES
Why are bees so important? It is easy to answer the question. They are the world’s third most significant working animal, pollinating almost 80 percent of all the farmed and wild plants used by humankind. Their importance has only become apparent to many in the last few years, as we have seen whole bee colo- nies wiped out by pesticides and other harmful substances. This is why HHLA, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, launched a project in 2015 and has since then kept eight beehives at their Container Termi-
nal Altenwerder (CTA). Almost 320,000 bees show clearly that despite the around 18,000 ships calling annually in the port nature and vessels can co-exist happily. During the last three summers, many honey lovers among the employees of HHLA have
bought the ‘hafengold’ brand of honey, wich is only available for HHLA employees. Beekeeper Stephan Iblher is very pleased with the product. He always dreamed of making a port honey. The purity of the honey is checked regularly by a renowned
international foodstuff institute. They have found no traces of lead, glyphosate or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Iblher describes last year’s harvest as a typical
summer honey, minty fresh and flowery, with a dominant taste of linden.
In Hamburg HHLA is joined by BEEsharing to sustain the bees. The network estab- lished in Hamburg, rents out the buzzing helpers to fruit growers in the Elbe region
and oversees professional operations for these flying employees. On the one hand, this is important to improve the harvest and on the other, it helps to maintain a natural habitat for the bees. From 2018 BEEsharing will be presented in a bee promotion con-
tainer at the Hamburg wholesale market where young and old can obtain information on the importance of bees.
© HHLA