On the edge of the airport runway, two people, kitted in white long-sleeved overalls, gloves and a netted veil, check on their bees.
Ray Sciberras and Denise Camilleri of Golden Island Honey inspect each of their five bee colonies as they explain how Malta International Airport uses their bees to measure air pollution.
“Much of the pollution in the area comes from fireworks, not the runway,” Sciberras says.
Bees in Sciberras’s and Camilleri’s two airport apiaries forage within a three-kilometre radius and bring it back to their box, Sciberras says.
The beekeepers then send honey samples to an accredited laboratory in Germany which measures for pollutants that can arise from aviation-fuel combustion.
But pollutants from other sources, like fireworks are also measured.
Fireworks leave heavy metals in the air and “you can see a spike in samples collected close to festa season,” Sciberras said.
The honey collected at the airport is also compared to a control sample harvested from bees in Baħrija.
“Like this, we can then see what sort of pollution is being caused by airplanes.”
The amount of pollution in the honey is negligible and measured in parts per billion.
“But it gives essential information about the state of the environment in the areas around the airport.”
The honey collected at the airport is also compared to a control sample harvested from bees in Baħrija. “Like this, we can then see what sort of pollution is being caused by airplanes.”
Malta has less pollution than other airports because of the wind and other favourable environmental conditions, such as its position at a relatively high altitude.
“Rome, for example, measures 10 times the pollution as Malta,” Sciberras points out.
The local airport says the pollution measured by the honey is well below the EU’s accepted levels.
The bee-airport relationship is mutually beneficial. While the airport can measure air quality, Sciberras and Camilleri produce honey.
Each box at the airport apiary produces up to a hundred kilos of honey every year in three harvests: summer, autumn and spring.
Every harvest carries a distinct taste as bees pollinate on different plants during the year, Sciberras explains.
“Malta’s summer honey, for example, comes from bees pollinating thyme.”
In autumn, bees pollinate on carob trees and, in spring, they rely on the wildflowers that grow in April and May.
Sciberras and Camilleri manage 15 apiaries across Malta. Two of them are those used for sampling in the airport area.
The company produces seven tonnes of honey a year.
Some is exported to Japan. “If you’re exporting there, your product needs to be top-notch,” Sciberras says.
Golden Island Honey even won a competition in Paris this year. Justine Baldacchino, the Malta International Airport’s head of sustainability, said the collaboration with Golden Island Honey began seven years ago.
“The potential presented by the stretches of idle land around the terminal, together with the company’s initial push for more responsible operations back then, led us to welcome the first six hives at our airport,” she said.
“We have rehabilitated around 150 square metres of land into bee-friendly habitats that allow these pollinators to thrive amid the increasing urbanisation.”