Bees felt

As pollinating insects, bees are invaluable in the global ecology. They are so useful that humans even keep honeybees, which produce valuable honey and beeswax. The importance of bees for maintaining biodiversity, for yields and thus also for feeding humans is so great that, in view of the "bee die-off" observed worldwide, the UN General Assembly addressed them and declared May 20 "World Bee Day" in 2017. A flower without a bee? Not only would we miss their buzzing and humming - life on Earth would simply be unrecognizable.

Some species form states and perform amazing dances to communicate. Depending on the task, the bees of a bee colony have different life expectancies. If a (honey) bee queen can live two to five years, a worker bee as a summer bee lives on average only four to five weeks, as a winter bee she can reach an age of several months. These bees, however, are felted by hand from pure New Zealand (and thus animal-friendly obtained) virgin wool and can therefore delight you far longer: not only in the midst of the branches and flowers of your vase arrangement, but also as an adornment of a small gift, as a decoration of your set table or simply as small, lovable lucky charms.

During her backpacking tour through Nepal, the Dane Gry Staunstrup got to know the astonishing openness and warmth of the country’s inhabitants, and their craftsmanship bedazzled her. She was able to observe in detail how adeptly and skilfully Nepalese women felted wool into a wide variety of objects. Staunstrup felt it was time to make something good out of the untapped potential, and an idea was born: to combine Nepalese handicrafts with Danish design. And the idea was immediately followed by action.

The company Gry & Sif started producing a variety of products made of wool felt in Nepal in 2000. The designs created by Gry Staunstrup are as remarkable as they are understated and, characteristic of Danish design, at the same time fresh and merry. Nepalese women turn them into products employing traditional handicrafts. Fair Trade certified by now, Gry & Sif stands for fair wages and working conditions, environmentally conscious production and transparency. The company exclusively sources pure new wool from New Zealand sheep for the felting; each of the resulting products is handmade and unique.