From email to marketing tools, amusing gadgets and disruptive transportation automation, Google has always been a pioneer in introducing innovative and exciting technologies.

In 2015, when Google became Alphabet, they decided to change their slogan from “Don’t be evil” to “Do the right thing”. But did you know that at Google, they were doing the right thing since 2010 when they opened Hiveplex – their own apiary at the headquarters in Mountainview, CA? In a large corporation like this, it is customary to have a ticketing system to help employees whenever they encounter a problem.

In March 2010, a rather strange ticket came in from an engineering manager called Rob Peterson. He reported “lack of bees” and requested permission to install beehives on the premises of Google’s headquarters. “I was wondering if I could keep bees?” he wrote. Not long after Marc Rasic, an Executive Chef at Google wrote to Rob and they started planning Google’s apiary together. Little did they know that convincing the management and other employees to hop on board was very easy. Over the course of five months, they were able to assemble four beekeeping teams.

Today Googlers are happily enjoying their privately made honey and the unexpected outcome of this endeavour was an incredible team building exercise across various departments.
“The point was to find new ways to be creative around here and really show that we could have a source of honey very close to us,” Rasic said.

We have decided to jump in and offer Google the opportunity to test our Beebot out and digitize their apiary so that it could keep up with the high-tech philosophy of the company. With our remote monitoring system, the G-beekeepers will be able to further develop their Hiveplex and get digital insights of what’s happening in there.

So what is stopping you from introducing such an idea to the management at your company? Give us a shout out and we’ll help! 😉