Every city needs healthy honey bees
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0:02 - 0:04This man is wearing what we call
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0:04 - 0:07a bee beard. (Laughter)
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0:07 - 0:08A beard full of bees.
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0:08 - 0:12Now, this is what many of you might picture
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0:12 - 0:15when you think about honeybees, maybe insects,
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0:15 - 0:18or maybe anything that has more legs than two.
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0:18 - 0:20And let me start by telling you, I gotcha.
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0:20 - 0:25I understand that. But, there are many things to know,
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0:25 - 0:28and I want you to open your minds here,
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0:28 - 0:31keep them open, and change your perspective about honeybees.
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0:31 - 0:34Notice that this man is not getting stung.
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0:34 - 0:38He probably has a queen bee tied to his chin,
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0:38 - 0:40and the other bees are attracted to it.
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0:40 - 0:44So this really demonstrates our relationship with honeybees,
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0:44 - 0:47and that goes deep back for thousands of years.
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0:47 - 0:51We're very co-evolved, because we depend on bees
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0:51 - 0:54for pollination and, even more recently,
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0:54 - 0:55as an economic commodity.
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0:55 - 0:58Many of you may have heard that honeybees are disappearing,
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0:58 - 1:01not just dying, but they're gone.
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1:01 - 1:03We don't even find dead bodies.
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1:03 - 1:05This is called colony collapse disorder,
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1:05 - 1:07and it's bizarre. Researchers around the globe
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1:07 - 1:10still do not know what's causing it,
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1:10 - 1:12but what we do know is that, with the declining numbers
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1:12 - 1:16of bees, the costs of over 130 fruit and vegetable crops
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1:16 - 1:21that we rely on for food is going up in price.
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1:21 - 1:25So honeybees are important for their role in the economy
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1:25 - 1:27as well as in agriculture.
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1:27 - 1:29Here you can see some pictures of what are called
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1:29 - 1:32green roofs, or urban agriculture.
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1:32 - 1:34We're familiar with the image on the left that shows
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1:34 - 1:37a local neighborhood garden in the South End.
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1:37 - 1:40That's where I call home. I have a beehive in the backyard.
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1:40 - 1:42And perhaps a green roof in the future,
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1:42 - 1:44when we're further utilizing urban areas,
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1:44 - 1:47where there are stacks of garden spaces.
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1:47 - 1:51Check out this image above the orange line in Boston.
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1:51 - 1:54Try to spot the beehive. It's there.
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1:54 - 1:57It's on the rooftop, right on the corner there,
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1:57 - 1:59and it's been there for a couple of years now.
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1:59 - 2:03The way that urban beekeeping currently operates
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2:03 - 2:05is that the beehives are quite hidden,
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2:05 - 2:07and it's not because they need to be.
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2:07 - 2:10It's just because people are uncomfortable with the idea,
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2:10 - 2:14and that's why I want you today to try to think about this,
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2:14 - 2:16think about the benefits of bees in cities
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2:16 - 2:18and why they really are a terrific thing.
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2:18 - 2:21Let me give you a brief rundown on how pollination works.
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2:21 - 2:24So we know flowers, we know fruits and vegetables,
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2:24 - 2:27even some alfalfa in hay that the livestock
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2:27 - 2:30for the meats that we eat, rely on pollinators,
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2:30 - 2:33but you've got male and female parts to a plant here,
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2:33 - 2:36and basically pollinators are attracted to plants
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2:36 - 2:39for their nectar, and in the process,
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2:39 - 2:42a bee will visit some flowers and pick up some pollen,
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2:42 - 2:46or that male kind of sperm counterpart, along the way,
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2:46 - 2:48and then travel to different flowers, and eventually
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2:48 - 2:51an apple, in this case, will be produced.
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2:51 - 2:54You can see the orientation. The stem is down.
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2:54 - 2:57The blossom end has fallen off by the time we eat it,
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2:57 - 3:00but that's a basic overview of how pollination works.
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3:00 - 3:02And let's think about urban living, not today,
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3:02 - 3:05and not in the past, but what about in a hundred years?
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3:05 - 3:09What's it gonna look like? We have huge grand challenges
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3:09 - 3:13these days of habitat loss. We have more and more people,
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3:13 - 3:16billions of people, in 100 years, God knows how many people,
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3:16 - 3:20and how little space there will be to fit all of them,
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3:20 - 3:23so we need to change the way that we see cities, and
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3:23 - 3:27looking at this picture on the left of New York City today,
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3:27 - 3:29you can see how gray and brown it is.
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3:29 - 3:32We have tar paper on the rooftops that bounces heat back
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3:32 - 3:34into the atmosphere,
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3:34 - 3:36contributing to global climate change, no doubt.
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3:36 - 3:39What about in 100 years, if we have green rooftops
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3:39 - 3:42everywhere, and gardening, and we create our own crops
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3:42 - 3:46right in the cities? We save on the costs of transportation,
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3:46 - 3:50we save on a healthier diet, and we also educate
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3:50 - 3:52and create new jobs locally.
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3:52 - 3:56We need bees for the future of our cities and urban living.
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3:56 - 4:00Here's some data that we collected through our company
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4:00 - 4:03with Best Bees, where we deliver, install and manage
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4:03 - 4:05honeybee hives for anybody who wants them,
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4:05 - 4:08in the city, in the countryside, and we introduce honeybees,
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4:08 - 4:11and the idea of beekeeping in your own backyard or rooftop
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4:11 - 4:14or fire escape, for even that matter,
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4:14 - 4:17and seeing how simple it is and how possible it is.
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4:17 - 4:19There's a counterintuitive trend that we noticed
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4:19 - 4:22in these numbers. So let's look at the first metric here,
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4:22 - 4:23overwintering survival.
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4:23 - 4:26Now this has been a huge problem for many years,
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4:26 - 4:30basically since the late 1980s, when the varroa mite came
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4:30 - 4:34and brought many different viruses, bacteria
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4:34 - 4:36and fungal diseases with it.
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4:36 - 4:37Overwintering success is hard,
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4:37 - 4:40and that's when most of the colonies are lost,
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4:40 - 4:42and we found that in the cities, bees are surviving
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4:42 - 4:45better than they are in the country.
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4:45 - 4:47A bit counterintuitive, right?
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4:47 - 4:49We think, oh, bees, countryside, agriculture,
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4:49 - 4:51but that's not what the bees are showing.
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4:51 - 4:53The bees like it in the city. (Laughter)
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4:53 - 4:56Furthermore, they also produce more honey.
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4:56 - 4:59The urban honey is delicious.
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4:59 - 5:02The bees in Boston on the rooftop of the Seaport Hotel,
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5:02 - 5:05where we have hundreds of thousands of bees
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5:05 - 5:06flying overheard right now
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5:06 - 5:08that I'm sure none of you noticed when we walked by,
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5:08 - 5:11are going to all of the local community gardens
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5:11 - 5:13and making delicious, healthy honey
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5:13 - 5:16that just tastes like the flowers in our city.
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5:16 - 5:21So the yield for urban hives, in terms of honey production,
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5:21 - 5:24is higher as well as the overwintering survival,
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5:24 - 5:25compared to rural areas.
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5:25 - 5:27Again, a bit counterintuitive.
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5:27 - 5:31And looking back historically at the timeline
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5:31 - 5:35of honeybee health, we can go back to the year 950 and see
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5:35 - 5:38that there was also a great mortality of bees in Ireland.
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5:38 - 5:41So the problems of bees today isn't necessarily
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5:41 - 5:44something new. It has been happening
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5:44 - 5:46since over a thousand years ago,
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5:46 - 5:50but what we don't really notice are these problems in cities.
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5:50 - 5:52So one thing I want to encourage you to think about
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5:52 - 5:54is the idea of what an urban island is.
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5:54 - 5:57You think in the city maybe the temperature's warmer.
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5:57 - 5:59Why are bees doing better in the city?
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5:59 - 6:02This is a big question now to help us understand
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6:02 - 6:04why they should be in the city.
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6:04 - 6:06Perhaps there's more pollen in the city.
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6:06 - 6:08With the trains coming in to urban hubs, they can
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6:08 - 6:11carry pollen with them, very light pollen,
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6:11 - 6:13and it's just a big supermarket in the city.
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6:13 - 6:17A lot of linden trees live along the railroad tracks.
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6:17 - 6:20Perhaps there are fewer pesticides in the cities
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6:20 - 6:22than there are in [rural] areas.
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6:22 - 6:25Perhaps there are other things that we're just not thinking about yet,
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6:25 - 6:27but that's one idea to think about, urban islands.
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6:27 - 6:31And colony collapse disorder is not the only thing
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6:31 - 6:34affecting honeybees. Honeybees are dying,
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6:34 - 6:38and it's a huge, huge grand challenge of our time.
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6:38 - 6:40What you can see up here is a map of the world,
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6:40 - 6:43and we're tracking the spread of this varroa mite.
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6:43 - 6:46Now, the varroa mite is what changed the game
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6:46 - 6:49in beekeeping, and you can see, at the top right,
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6:49 - 6:52the years are changing, we're coming up to modern times,
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6:52 - 6:55and you can see the spread of the varroa mite
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6:55 - 6:57from the early 1900s through now.
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6:57 - 7:00It's 1968, and we're pretty much covering Asia.
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7:00 - 7:041971, we saw it spread to Europe and South America,
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7:04 - 7:09and then, when we get to the 1980s,
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7:09 - 7:13and specifically to 1987, the varroa mite finally came
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7:13 - 7:15to North America and to the United States,
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7:15 - 7:18and that is when the game changed
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7:18 - 7:20for honeybees in the United States.
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7:20 - 7:23Many of us will remember our childhood growing up,
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7:23 - 7:25maybe you got stung by a bee, you saw bees on flowers.
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7:25 - 7:29Think of the kids today. Their childhood's a bit different.
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7:29 - 7:31They don't experience this.
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7:31 - 7:33The bees just aren't around anymore.
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7:33 - 7:37So we need bees and they're disappearing and it's a big problem.
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7:37 - 7:38What can we do here?
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7:38 - 7:41So, what I do is honeybee research.
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7:41 - 7:43I got my Ph.D. studying honeybee health.
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7:43 - 7:46I started in 2005 studying honeybees.
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7:46 - 7:49In 2006, honeybees started disappearing,
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7:49 - 7:51so suddenly, like, this little nerd kid
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7:51 - 7:54going to school working with bugs — (Laughter) —
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7:54 - 7:56became very relevant in the world.
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7:56 - 7:57And it worked out that way.
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7:57 - 8:01So my research focuses on ways to make bees healthier.
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8:01 - 8:04I don't research what's killing the bees, per se.
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8:04 - 8:06I'm not one of the many researchers around the world
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8:06 - 8:09who's looking at the effects of pesticides or diseases
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8:09 - 8:11or habitat loss and poor nutrition on bees.
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8:11 - 8:13We're looking at ways to make bees healthier
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8:13 - 8:17through vaccines, through yogurt, like probiotics,
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8:17 - 8:22and other types of therapies in ways that can be fed orally to bees,
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8:22 - 8:25and this process is so easy, even a 7-year-old can do it.
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8:25 - 8:27You just mix up some pollen, sugar and water,
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8:27 - 8:29and whatever active ingredient you want to put in,
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8:29 - 8:31and you just give it right to the bees. No chemicals involved,
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8:31 - 8:33just immune boosters.
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8:33 - 8:36Humans think about our own health in a prospective way.
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8:36 - 8:38We exercise, we eat healthy, we take vitamins.
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8:38 - 8:41Why don't we think about honeybees in that same type of way?
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8:41 - 8:44Bring them to areas where they're thriving
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8:44 - 8:47and try to make them healthier before they get sick.
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8:47 - 8:52I spent many years in grad school trying to poke bees and do vaccines
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8:52 - 8:55with needles. (Laughter) Like, years,
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8:55 - 8:57years at the bench, "Oh my gosh, it's 3 a.m.
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8:57 - 8:59and I'm still pricking bees." (Laughter)
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8:59 - 9:02And then one day I said, "Why don't we just do an oral vaccine?"
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9:02 - 9:07It's like, "Ugh," so that's what we do. (Laughter)
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9:07 - 9:10I'd love to share with you some images of urban beehives,
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9:10 - 9:13because they can be anything.
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9:13 - 9:15I mean, really open your mind with this.
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9:15 - 9:17You can paint a hive to match your home.
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9:17 - 9:20You can hide a hive inside your home.
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9:20 - 9:22These are three hives on the rooftop
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9:22 - 9:24of the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel,
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9:24 - 9:27and they're beautiful here. I mean, we matched
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9:27 - 9:29the new color of the inside of their rooms to do
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9:29 - 9:32some type of a stained wood with blue for their sheets,
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9:32 - 9:35and these bees are terrific, and they also will use
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9:35 - 9:38herbs that are growing in the garden.
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9:38 - 9:41That's what the chefs go to to use for their cooking,
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9:41 - 9:43and the honey -- they do live events --
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9:43 - 9:45they'll use that honey at their bars.
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9:45 - 9:48Honey is a great nutritional substitute for regular sugar
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9:48 - 9:50because there are different types of sugars in there.
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9:50 - 9:52We also have a classroom hives project,
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9:52 - 9:55where -- this is a nonprofit venture --
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9:55 - 9:58we're spreading the word around the world for how
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9:58 - 10:00honeybee hives can be taken into the classroom
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10:00 - 10:03or into the museum setting, behind glass,
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10:03 - 10:05and used as an educational tool.
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10:05 - 10:07This hive that you see here has been
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10:07 - 10:09in Fenway High School for many years now.
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10:09 - 10:11The bees fly right into the outfield of Fenway Park.
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10:11 - 10:13Nobody notices it. If you're not a flower,
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10:13 - 10:16these bees do not care about you. (Laughter)
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10:16 - 10:18They don't. They don't. They'll say,
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10:18 - 10:21"S'cuse me, flying around." (Laughter)
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10:21 - 10:24Some other images here in telling a part of the story
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10:24 - 10:26that really made urban beekeeping terrific is
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10:26 - 10:30in New York City, beekeeping was illegal until 2010.
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10:30 - 10:33That's a big problem, because what's going to pollinate
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10:33 - 10:36all of the gardens and the produce locally? Hands?
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10:36 - 10:40I mean, locally in Boston, there is a terrific company
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10:40 - 10:42called Green City Growers, and they are going
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10:42 - 10:46and pollinating their squash crops by hand with Q-Tips,
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10:46 - 10:48and if they miss that three day window, there's no fruit.
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10:48 - 10:51Their clients aren't happy, and people go hungry.
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10:51 - 10:53So this is important.
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10:53 - 10:55We have also some images of honey from Brooklyn.
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10:55 - 10:57Now, this was a mystery in the New York Times
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10:57 - 10:59where the honey was very red, and the
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10:59 - 11:00New York State forensics department came in
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11:00 - 11:03and they actually did some science to match
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11:03 - 11:06the red dye with that found
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11:06 - 11:09in a maraschino cherry factory down the street. (Laughter)
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11:09 - 11:12So you can tailor your honey to taste however you want
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11:12 - 11:15by planting bee-friendly flowers.
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11:15 - 11:17Paris has been a terrific model for urban beekeeping.
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11:17 - 11:20They've had hives on the rooftop of their opera house
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11:20 - 11:23for many years now, and that's what really got people started, thinking,
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11:23 - 11:26"Wow, we can do this, and we should do this."
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11:26 - 11:29Also in London, and in Europe across the board,
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11:29 - 11:32they're very advanced in their use of green rooftops
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11:32 - 11:35and integrating beehives,
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11:35 - 11:38and I'll show you an ending note here.
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11:38 - 11:40I would like to encourage you to open your mind.
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11:40 - 11:43What can you do to save the bees or to help them
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11:43 - 11:47or to think of sustainable cities in the future?
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11:47 - 11:49Well, really, just change your perspective.
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11:49 - 11:51Try to understand that bees are very important.
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11:51 - 11:53A bee isn't going to sting you if you see it.
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11:53 - 11:57The bee dies. Honeybees die when they sting,
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11:57 - 11:59so they don't want to do it either. (Laughter)
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11:59 - 12:03It's nothing to panic about. They're all over the city.
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12:03 - 12:05You could even get your own hive if you want.
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12:05 - 12:07There are great resources available,
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12:07 - 12:10and there are even companies that will help get you set up and mentor you
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12:10 - 12:13and it's important for our educational system in the world
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12:13 - 12:16for students to learn about agriculture worldwide
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12:16 - 12:20such as this little girl, who, again, is not even getting stung.
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12:20 - 12:22Thank you. (Applause)
- Title:
- Every city needs healthy honey bees
- Speaker:
- Noah Wilson-Rich
- Description:
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Bees have been rapidly and mysteriously disappearing from rural areas, with grave implications for agriculture. But bees seem to flourish in urban environments -- and cities need their help, too. Noah Wilson-Rich suggests that urban beekeeping might play a role in revitalizing both a city and a species. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:43
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Amy Ko accepted English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Tatiana Bogomazova edited English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for Every city needs healthy honey bees |