Milan's trams bloom in autumn.

Since the 1st of October, a decidedly unusual tram has been roaming the streets of Milan, on the tracks of the 2 and 19 lines, on which the traditional orange colour has given way to an expanse of flowers and a large bee. There is also a message "--is it, spring?" that at the beginning of autumn seems anachronistic. Indeed, a meteorologically 'crazy' September has just come to an end, with sweltering midsummer temperatures in the first part of the month and a sudden drop in the last ten days of the month that suddenly brought us into winter.

If for humans these changes can be managed with a sudden change of wardrobe, the effects on nature can be much more devastating. This is well known by 3Bee, an agritech start-up that puts technology at the service of the health of bees, insects that are highly threatened by climate change and at the same time play a fundamental role for the Planet because, thanks to pollination, they maintain environmental biodiversity and are responsible for more than 70% of the food on our tables.

With its flower tram, 3Bee decided to send an important message to Milan, the Italian city symbol of innovation and capital of change: due to climate change that disrupts the cycles of nature, flowers no longer have nectar and consequently bees are unable to find the necessary nourishment to survive and continue to play their important role. The Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the CNR in Bologna found that from January to 15 September there was an anomaly of +1.25°C compared to the long-term average temperatures; Moreover, Coldiretti had already pointed out in February that the boiling winter recorded in Italy (with 1.65°C above average) had endangered the lives of the 50 billion bees living in 1.5 million hives, due to an early start to their activity in February, with the risk of being surprised by a frost.

But what can Milan do? This is explained by Niccolò Calandri, CEO and founder together with Riccardo Balzaretti of 3Bee: 'With the tram that leaves a trail of flowers behind it, we want to make people aware of sustainability issues and the need for change. The Line 2 tram will run for three months, and every time an inhabitant of Milan sees it, we would like them to stop for a moment and reflect on climate change and good daily practices to respect the environment." In this project, dedicated to Milan and for which we chose one of its symbols such as the tram, we also wanted to involve Il Milanese Imbruttito, which represents the true identity of the Milanese, to give strength to the message. "To the cry of 'Cazzoè, primavera?' - which is hidden behind the writing on the tram - with the caustic language of the imbrutito Milanese, which over the years we have all learnt to know, we want to forcefully launch our provocation towards the citizens".

"More and more often in recent years you hear phrases like: 'First it's hot, then it's cold, then it's hot again. You can't understand a f--'. Or, on purely winter days but with purely spring-like temperatures: '--is it, Spring?!' - says Tommaso Pozza, one of the three founders of the Il Milanese Imbruttito project together with Marco De Crescenzio and Federico Marisio. 'As much as we at Il Milanese Imbruttito tend to take aspects of everyday life and turn them around ironically, on the environment and awareness-raising front there is little to joke about. When the guys from 3Bee contacted us about the project, we immediately embraced the cause. Topics like this are often forgotten in the city. We believe that our support in creative terms can help activate that 'mental alert' on this issue.

Finally, on the 'flowery tram' appears an invitation to do something concrete: the adoption of a beehive, a gesture with which everyone can contribute to the protection of the colonies of pollinating insects, thanks to 3Bee's technology. The start-up has in fact developed monitoring systems for bee health diagnostics, which, through a series of IoT sensors, enable real-time monitoring of weight, temperature, humidity and sound values inside the hive, thanks to the combination of AI algorithms that interpret and return them in analysable data. With 3Bee's 'Adopt a Hive' programme, anyone can remotely support an Italian beekeeper using the Hive-Tech systems, and check the health of the hive at any time. At the end of the beekeeping season, the quantity of honey chosen and produced in the hive according to the natural production cycle is delivered.