When we think of bees in decline, we often think about pesticides and a lack of food (itself linked to human environmental destruction). However, another big factor is parasites (like varroa mites). When a then-16-year-old teen from Connecticut, Raina Singhvi Jain, learned about these parasites and the declining bee population, she made it her mission to help save the bees. Even since learning she was allergic (a sting that had her out of commission for two weeks), Jain understands their importance and, now at 20, has helped develop a technology to aid in the fight against the parasites.
Jain 3D printed a device called HiveGuard, and it acts as an entryway for bees. She told CNN, “As bees pass through the entranceway, the thymol rubs off onto the body of the bee, where ultimately the concentration kills the varroa mites, but the honeybee is left unharmed.” 70% of the bees that go through the entrance (dozens of times a day) have these parasitic mites killed. Killing varroa mites also helps fight against the human-caused decline since mite-less bees have better health and immunity. While we just learned about her efforts, Jain has been talking about these entranceways for a few years and even secured funding to help expand this project.
Since working on the project, she also started The Queen Bee, a business that sells what bees make in their hives. The website states, “I used to take raw honey and royal jelly straight from the hive and mix it with ginger and turmeric to create an elixir immunity shot, a recipe passed down from my grandmother.” According to the website, for each bottle sold, they plant one pollinator tree so that it acts as a self-sustainable business.
“Save the bees” may seem like just a catchy slogan to those that don’t want to pay attention to human-caused issues in nature, such as climate change, but bees (and their role as roaming pollinators) are very important to our lives too. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 75% of crops that produce fruits or seeds that we use for food depend on pollinators. Pollinators affect 35% of global agricultural land.
(via CNN, featured image: Pixabay on Pexels)
Here are some other bits of news out there:
- Another week goes by, and tens of thousands of books are ‘under review’ because people are straight-up bigots that want to control other people’s kids. (via BookRiot)
- Lewis Black looks at “Why Are Young People Acting Older?” (via The Daily Show on YouTube)
- Marvel’s Avengers will make our favorite ex-Hydra agent available for free in-game at the end of the month. (via IGN)
- Media Matter for America reporter documents all the extremely right-wing nationalists and populists that Elon Musk welcomed back to the platform. (via Twitter)
- Iranian artists dropped banners of Mahsa Amini at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to bring attention back to the death and disappearances of Iranian women. (via Hyperallergic)
And finally, Tee Noir is back with part two of her series focusing on hypersexuality and pussy perfectionism.
What did you see online today, Mary Suevians?
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