Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- The project sold 33 BBB Genesis NFTs, each costing USD 50, to cover the cost of setting up 33 apiary units in Krishnagiri and Tiruvallur districts.
- Bring Back Bees plans to sell 3333 BBB NFTs to reach its target of deploying 3333 apiary units across India by 2023.
Bring Back Bees (BBB), a web3-based environmental project dedicated to protecting bees, has completed installing 33 apiary units in Krishnagiri and Tiruvallur districts in Tamil Nadu, from the fund it had generated through the sale of 33 digital tokens, known as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), launched on 1st July 2022.
Bring Back Bees Project Sets up Apiary Units Selling NFT Digital Tokens
BBB NFT is India’s first NFT created for the promotion of apiculture, the practice of keeping bees as well as the manufacturing of honey and beewax. Each BBB NFT costs about USD 50 at present, enough to cover the cost of a beehive, a honey extractor and protective clothing for a farmer, and training in beekeeping. BBB has joined hands with Pasumai Thayagam for the installation of apiary units. Currently the project is being implemented at Gearatti village in Krishnagiri district, and Thanipoondi village in Gummidipoondi at Tiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu. BBB plans to sell 3333 BBB NFTs and install 3333 apiary units across India by 2023.
By minting a BBB NFT, anybody can support a beehive in the real world. Supporters are entitled to get free bottles of honey – one each for a BBB NFT, upon the first-time harvest of the beehives. In addition to the satisfaction of supporting a good cause, minting BBB NFTs can also offer monetary benefits – as the value of BBB NFTs increase when the project performs well.
People can visit the website of BBB (www.bringbackbees.in) and “mint” NFTs with a few simple steps. The upcoming BBB NFTs will be released on NEAR Protocol in partnership with Kalakendra DAO and Web3 Thamizha DAO, tech startups.
The primary advantage of NFTs is that all records concerning the transaction, purchase of beehives, training, and even the location of beehives, will be transparent – and available on the peer-to-peer digital platforms forever.
Addressing the media, Mr. Dinesh Kshatriyan, Founder, BBB, and a Web3 entrepreneur, said, “By purchasing a BBB NFT people can support the real-world beekeeping activities that work towards preserving the bees of planet earth. We are planning to set up 3,333 bee hives by 2023. The bee population will increase as bees breed. For each hive we will sell an NFT. Our NFT holders will get pure honey and some cool merchandise from the first honey yield. Since NFTs exist on a blockchain, which is nothing but a distributed public ledger available online, all records related to transactions remain transparent forever. BBB will also provide supplemental income for farmers and beekeepers. In short, it is a win-win-win for bees, farmers, and the planet.”
In his comments, Mr. Muni Sekhar, Pasumai Thayagam, Krishnagiri, said, “Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops – which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition – are pollinated by bees. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. However, there has been a tail-off in the bee population worldwide in recent decades due to habitat loss, intensive farming practices, changing weather patterns, and pesticide overuse. This, in turn, poses a threat to various plants that are essential to human survival and well-being. In this context, we are happy to partner with this unique venture that gives a chance to anyone who cares about bees to do something for their protection. We are confident of achieving our target of funding 3333 beehives. And it is only a beginning in terms what blockchain technology, when combined with compassion, can do for saving the environment.”
Mr. Dinesh had shot to fame recently for conducting his marriage reception on metaverse, a virtual 3D universe. The digital event created a record as Asia’s first marriage reception held on metaverse. Bring Back Bees is run by a young team of techies including Vijay, Shabarigirisan, Hariprasad, Priyan E, Aron Martin, Pranap Sivadasan, Santhosh, SM Naveen and Srinath.