Buzzing with bees – the AT&S digital advent calendar 2023

Do bees move closer together at Christmas? Is there “immaculate conception” in beehives? Based in Styria, Austria, the technology company AT&S, an innovative driver of the Green Transition, has had beehives at its site in Leoben for several years and presents fascinating insights into the world of bees during this year’s advent season.

Leoben, November 30, 2023 – While the electronically monitored AT&S beehives in Leoben lie dormant in winter, bees are buzzing on screens and smartphones in December: they are the stars of the online advent calendar that the Styria-based global microelectronics company is presenting today in collaboration with its partner BeeAndme. The aim is to expand the knowledge about bees, which are so important for our ecosystem and biodiversity, with tongue in cheek. Busy as bees, the BeeAndme experts collected 24 scientifically founded fun facts about the life of bees.

So when the first door of the advent calendar opens on December 1, AT&S – virtually – opens its beehives, which are located right next to the NewWorkingWorld, the new AT&S headquarters, and lets their inhabitants buzz in German and English: Do bees sometimes get a little tipsy (just like people, when they drink mulled wine at a Christmas market)? Do bees also have “immaculate conception”, as it is celebrated by Christians on December 8? What do bees do on December 24? How many kilometres can a bee fly in just one day, how much can it carry and how fast is it? These and many other fascinating questions will be answered every day in our Bee Advent Calendar.

Gerald Reischl, Head of Communications at AT&S, explains the reasons for this unusual activity: “When a company takes its responsibility for environmental and climate protection seriously, it needs to show that and live up to it. AT&S does so not only through innovations in interconnect technologies that drive the Green Transition, but also by implementing comprehensive global energy efficiency and recycling programmes in the company itself. Initiatives like our bees also stand for sustainability and acting responsibly.”

Every year, AT&S’s digitally monitored bee colonies produce hundreds of jars of the finest honey – sustainable gifts from AT&S’s own production which customers and guests from all over the world particularly enjoy. “Our partner BeeAndme combines innovative technology with beekeeper expertise and is therefore a perfect match for us as a leading-edge microelectronics company with high research and development potential,” says Reischl.

BeeAndme monitors bee colonies at more than 50 locations in five European countries with hourly measurements of four parameters, and continuously generates findings about the bees’ health from this data. Together with competent BeeAndme beekeepers like AT&S beekeeper Kurt Tratsch from Traboch, the collected data is interpreted and provides fascinating, fact-based insights into the life of bees.

AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft – Advanced Technologies & Solutions
AT&S is a leading global manufacturer of high-quality IC substrates and printed circuit boards as well as a developer of pioneering interconnect technologies for the core areas of mobile devices, automotive & aerospace, industrial, medical and high-performance processors for VR and AI applications. AT&S has a global presence with production sites in Austria (Leoben, Fehring) and plants in India (Nanjangud), China (Shanghai, Chongqing) and Korea (Ansan near Seoul). A new high-end production facility for IC substrates is currently being ramped up in Kulim, Malaysia. A European competence centre with connected series production for IC substrate technologies is being built in Leoben. Both sites will start production in the financial year 2024/25. The company employs more than 14,000 people.