Ukrainian beekeepers will work with the country's increasingly well-known drone operator school Dronarium Academy next year to safely create honey from the minefields that dot large swathes of the country.
Starting in the spring of next year, drone operators will sow seeds to plant bees' preferred herbs and plants over the mined areas, then the insects will collect the nectar and turn it into branded Minefields Honey, said the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is coordinating the project.
Saatchi & Saatchi Ukraine is helping call attention to the honey, which is also backed by Kernel, Ukraine's largest sunflower oil exporter. It will be collected with the help of the Ukrainian Beekeepers' Association and Dronarium Academy, which says it has so far trained 7,000 drone operators to fight against Russian.
"We understand - the project is complex and takes a long time to implement. But we are convinced that each new stage of it will attract more and more attention of diplomats and communities around the world, and this will help to change the situation for the better at least a little," said Kosta Schneider, the Ukraine and Czech Republic creative director of Publicis Groupe, which owns Saatchi & Saatchi.
The honey, available for pre-order at https://minefieldshoney.onepage.me/ with delivery starting next year, is meant to help the government raise money for the multi-year undertaking of de-mining the country. Ukraine has so far raised 500 million euros in pledges from more than 40 countries to help de-mine an estimated 174,000 square kilometers.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said "Ukrainian diplomats will take minefield honey with them to meetings and international visits and will give it to diplomats and public figures around the world" in a "powerful means of communication about the problem of mined lands."
