Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown
-
0:06 - 0:10Pollinator decline is a grand challenge
in the modern world. -
0:10 - 0:13Of the 200,000 species of pollinators,
-
0:13 - 0:16honeybees are the most well-understood,
-
0:16 - 0:18partly because of
our long history with them, -
0:18 - 0:20dating back 8,000 years ago
-
0:20 - 0:24to our cave drawings
in what's now modern-day Spain, -
0:24 - 0:28and yet, we know that
this indicator species is dying off. -
0:28 - 0:33Last year alone, we lost 40%
of all beehives in the United States, -
0:33 - 0:36and that number is even higher
in areas with harsh winters, -
0:36 - 0:37like here in Massachusetts,
-
0:37 - 0:41where we lost 47% of beehives
in one year alone. -
0:42 - 0:45Can you imagine if we lost
half of our people last year? -
0:45 - 0:48And if those were
the food-producing people? -
0:49 - 0:52And I predict that in 10 years,
-
0:52 - 0:54we will lose our bees.
-
0:54 - 0:58If not for the work of beekeepers
replacing these dead beehives, -
0:58 - 1:01we would be without foods
that we rely upon: -
1:01 - 1:05Fruits, vegetables,
crunchy almonds and nuts, -
1:05 - 1:09tart apples, sour lemons,
-
1:09 - 1:12even the food that
our cattle relies upon to eat - -
1:12 - 1:14hay and alfalfa, gone -
-
1:14 - 1:18causing global hunger, economic collapse,
-
1:18 - 1:20a total moral crisis across Earth.
-
1:20 - 1:24And it's going to take an effort
from every single one of you here -
1:24 - 1:27to become what we call
"citizen scientists," -
1:27 - 1:30to activate all the things
that you're probably already doing - -
1:30 - 1:33Yes, planting flowers, getting beehives,
-
1:33 - 1:37making bee hotels, habitats
for those lesser known pollinators, -
1:37 - 1:39but beyond that, going a step further,
-
1:39 - 1:43and adding a data
collection element to it. -
1:43 - 1:45So, I'm going to show you
how to do this here today, -
1:45 - 1:49and I'm going to show you how
when my team shifted our perspective -
1:49 - 1:51away from bees that were dying
-
1:51 - 1:55and toward maps and looking at
hot spots for bee health, -
1:55 - 1:57and shifting our perspective
away from honey -
1:57 - 2:00as just a sweet, sticky delicious food,
-
2:00 - 2:04but to a source of information
that contains a blueprint -
2:04 - 2:09for healthy habitat suspended in time
in the only food that doesn't go bad. -
2:09 - 2:11That's where we find the hope
-
2:11 - 2:14and that's what we'll do together today.
-
2:14 - 2:16Now, I first started keeping bees
here in Cape Cod, -
2:16 - 2:20right after I finished my doctorate
in honeybee immunology. -
2:20 - 2:21(Laughter)
-
2:21 - 2:23It was -
-
2:23 - 2:25(Applause)
-
2:27 - 2:30So, imagine getting such a degree
in a good economy - -
2:30 - 2:31(Laughter)
-
2:31 - 2:35And it was 2009 - the great recession.
-
2:36 - 2:38And I was onto something -
-
2:38 - 2:41I knew that I could find out
how to improve bee health. -
2:41 - 2:44And that's when word started to spread
and I came here to Cape Cod -
2:44 - 2:46and I realized that this deep connection
-
2:46 - 2:50that people have to the land here
is so true and long-standing - -
2:50 - 2:54probably because there's so little
of the land that is here, -
2:54 - 2:56we're connected to it.
-
2:56 - 2:59And so the community on Cape Cod,
here in Provincetown, -
2:59 - 3:01was right for citizen science,
-
3:01 - 3:04people looking for ways
to get involved and to help. -
3:04 - 3:06And so, we met with people
in coffee shops. -
3:06 - 3:09A wonderful woman named Natalie
got eight beehives at her home in Truro, -
3:09 - 3:11and she introduced us
to her friend Valerie, -
3:11 - 3:17who let us set up 60 beehives at
an abandoned tennis court on her property. -
3:18 - 3:21And so we started testing
vaccines for bees. -
3:21 - 3:23We were starting to look at probiotics.
-
3:23 - 3:25We called it bee yogurt.
-
3:25 - 3:28Ways to make bees healthier.
-
3:28 - 3:31And our citizen science project
started to take off. -
3:31 - 3:33Word started to spread
and people started to think, -
3:33 - 3:36"Wow, I can get bees of my own
and their little data factory, -
3:36 - 3:37that's great!"
-
3:37 - 3:42Meanwhile, back in my apartment here,
I was a bit nervous about my landlord. -
3:42 - 3:45I figured I should tell him
what we were doing. -
3:45 - 3:46(Laughter)
-
3:46 - 3:47I was terrified.
-
3:47 - 3:49I really thought I was going
to get an eviction notice -
3:49 - 3:52which really was the last thing
we needed, right? -
3:52 - 3:54I must have caught him
on a good day, though, -
3:54 - 3:57because when I told him what
we were doing and how we started -
3:57 - 3:59our non-profit urban
beekeeping laboratory, -
3:59 - 4:03he said, "That's great!
Let's get a beehive in the back alley." -
4:03 - 4:04I was shocked!
-
4:04 - 4:06I was completely surprised.
-
4:06 - 4:08I mean, instead of getting
an eviction notice, -
4:08 - 4:10we got another data point.
-
4:10 - 4:12And in the back alley of this image,
-
4:12 - 4:15what you see here, this hidden beehive,
-
4:15 - 4:17that beehive produced
more honey that first year -
4:17 - 4:21than we had ever experienced
in any beehive we had managed. -
4:21 - 4:24Over a hundred pounds of honey
that one year alone. -
4:24 - 4:25We didn't know what to do with it.
-
4:25 - 4:29I mean, we were filling up
pickle jars with the stuff. -
4:29 - 4:31And since honey is the only food
that never goes bad, -
4:31 - 4:33the residents and tenants
in the community -
4:33 - 4:35are still enjoying that honey today.
-
4:35 - 4:38It shifted our research
perspective forever. -
4:38 - 4:40It changed our research question away
-
4:40 - 4:43from how do we save
the dead and dying bees -
4:43 - 4:45to where are bees doing best.
-
4:45 - 4:48And we started to be able
to put maps together, -
4:48 - 4:50looking at all of these
citizen science beehives -
4:50 - 4:55from people who had beehives
at home decks, gardens, business rooftops. -
4:55 - 4:56And we started to engage the public,
-
4:56 - 4:59and the more people who got
these little data points, -
4:59 - 5:01the more accurate our maps became.
-
5:01 - 5:04And so when you're sitting here thinking,
"How can I get involved?", -
5:04 - 5:06you might think about
the story of my friend Fred, -
5:06 - 5:08who's a commercial real estate developer
-
5:08 - 5:10and he was thinking the same thing.
-
5:10 - 5:14But even if you own a business,
you can be a citizen scientist too. -
5:14 - 5:17He was at a meeting
thinking about what he could do -
5:17 - 5:20for tenant relations
and sustainability at scale. -
5:20 - 5:22And while he was having a tea break,
-
5:22 - 5:25he put honey into his tea
and noticed, on the honey jar, -
5:25 - 5:29a message about corporate sustainability
from the host company of that meeting -
5:29 - 5:31and it sparked an idea.
-
5:31 - 5:35He came back to his office, an email,
a phone call later, and boom! -
5:35 - 5:38We went national together.
-
5:38 - 5:41We put dozens of beehives
on the rooftops of their skyscrapers -
5:41 - 5:44across nine cities nationwide.
-
5:45 - 5:46Nine years later -
-
5:46 - 5:49(Applause)
-
5:50 - 5:55Nine years later we have raised
over a million dollars for bee research. -
5:55 - 5:59We have a thousand beehives
as little data points across the country, -
5:59 - 6:0118 states and counting,
-
6:01 - 6:05where we have created paying jobs
for local beekeepers - 65 of them - -
6:05 - 6:08to manage beehives
in their own communities, -
6:08 - 6:13to connect with people,
everyday people who are now data points, -
6:13 - 6:15together, making a difference.
-
6:15 - 6:18So, in order to explain
what's actually been saving bees, -
6:18 - 6:19where they're thriving,
-
6:19 - 6:22I need to first tell you
what's been killing them. -
6:22 - 6:25The top three killers of bees
are agricultural chemicals, -
6:25 - 6:28such as pesticides,
herbicides, fungicides; -
6:28 - 6:30diseases of bees, of which there are many;
-
6:30 - 6:32and habitat loss.
-
6:32 - 6:34So, what we did is we looked at our maps
-
6:34 - 6:36and we identified areas
where bees were thriving, -
6:36 - 6:39and this was mostly in cities, we found.
-
6:39 - 6:42Data are now showing
that urban beehives produce more honey -
6:42 - 6:44than rural beehives and suburban beehives.
-
6:44 - 6:50Urban beehives have a longer lifespan
than rural and suburban beehives. -
6:50 - 6:52And bees in the city are more biodiverse;
-
6:52 - 6:54there are more bee species in urban areas.
-
6:55 - 6:56(Laughter)
-
6:56 - 6:57Right?
-
6:57 - 6:59"Why is this?"
-
6:59 - 7:01That was our question.
-
7:01 - 7:04So, we started with these 3 killers
of bees and we flipped it. -
7:04 - 7:06Which of these is different in the cities?
-
7:06 - 7:08So, the first one: Pesticides.
-
7:08 - 7:10We partnered up with the
Harvard School of Public Health. -
7:10 - 7:13We shared our data with them,
we collected samples -
7:13 - 7:16from our citizen science beehives
at people's homes and business rooftops. -
7:16 - 7:17And we looked at pesticides levels
-
7:17 - 7:22and we thought there'd be less pesticides
in areas where bees are doing better. -
7:22 - 7:23That's not the case.
-
7:23 - 7:27What we found here in our study
is that the orange bars are Boston, -
7:27 - 7:29and we thought those bars
would be the lowest, -
7:29 - 7:33there would be the lowest level
of pesticides and, in fact, -
7:33 - 7:36there are the most
pesticides in the cities. -
7:36 - 7:39So, the pesticide hypothesis
for what saving bees, -
7:39 - 7:40less pesticides in cities,
-
7:40 - 7:42is not it.
-
7:42 - 7:45And this is very typical
of my life as a scientist. -
7:46 - 7:48Any time I've had a hypothesis,
-
7:48 - 7:51not only is it not supported,
but the opposite is true. -
7:51 - 7:52(Laughter)
-
7:52 - 7:54Which is still
an interesting finding, right? -
7:54 - 7:55We moved on.
-
7:55 - 7:57The disease hypothesis.
-
7:57 - 7:59We looked at diseases
all over our beehives -
7:59 - 8:04and what we found in similar study
to this one with the North Carolina State: -
8:04 - 8:07There's no difference between disease and
bees in urban, suburban and rural areas, -
8:07 - 8:10diseases are everywhere;
bees are sick and dying. -
8:10 - 8:13In fact, there were more
diseases of bees in cities. -
8:13 - 8:15This was from Raleigh, North Carolina.
-
8:15 - 8:17So again, my hypothesis
was not supported, -
8:17 - 8:19the opposite was true.
-
8:19 - 8:20We're moving on.
-
8:20 - 8:22(Laughter)
-
8:22 - 8:25The habitat hypothesis.
-
8:25 - 8:28This said that areas where bees
are thriving have a better habitat. -
8:28 - 8:30More flowers, right?
-
8:30 - 8:32But we didn't know how to test this.
-
8:32 - 8:35So, I had a really interesting meeting
and an idea sparked -
8:35 - 8:38with my friend and colleague,
Anne Madden, fellow TED speaker, -
8:38 - 8:43and we thought about genomics,
kind of like AncestryDNA or 23andMe - -
8:43 - 8:44Have you done these?
-
8:44 - 8:47You know, you spit in the tube
and you find out, "I'm German," right? -
8:47 - 8:48(Laughter)
-
8:48 - 8:50We developed this for honey, right?
-
8:50 - 8:52And so we have a sample of honey
-
8:52 - 8:55and we look at all the plant DNA
and we find out, "I'm Sumac." -
8:55 - 8:56(Laughter)
-
8:56 - 8:59And that's what we found here
in Provincetown, -
8:59 - 9:02and so, for the first time ever
I'm able to report to you -
9:02 - 9:04what type of honey is from right here
in our own community. -
9:04 - 9:07Honey DNA, a genomics test.
-
9:07 - 9:10Spring honey in Provincetown
is from Privet. -
9:10 - 9:11What's Privet?
-
9:11 - 9:12Hedges.
-
9:12 - 9:13What's the message?
-
9:13 - 9:15Don't trim your hedges to save the bees.
-
9:15 - 9:16(Laughter)
-
9:16 - 9:17Right?
-
9:17 - 9:20I know we're getting crunchy here,
and it's controversial, -
9:20 - 9:21so before you throw your tomatoes,
-
9:21 - 9:24let's move to the summer honey,
which is water-lily honey. -
9:24 - 9:27If you have honey from Provincetown,
right here in the summer, -
9:27 - 9:29you're eating water-lily juice.
-
9:29 - 9:31In the fall, sumac honey.
-
9:31 - 9:34We're learning about our food
for the first time ever -
9:34 - 9:38and now we are able to report,
if you need to do any city planning, -
9:38 - 9:40what are good things to plant,
-
9:40 - 9:43what do we know the bees are going to
that's good for your garden. -
9:43 - 9:47What's more interesting for us
is deeper in the data. -
9:47 - 9:50So, if you are from the Caribbean
and you want to explore your heritage - -
9:50 - 9:55Bahamian honey is from the Laurel family;
cinnamon and avocado flavors. -
9:55 - 9:58But what's more interesting
is 85 different plant species -
9:58 - 10:00in one teaspoon of honey.
-
10:00 - 10:02That's the measure that we want.
-
10:02 - 10:03The big data.
-
10:03 - 10:05Indian honey.
-
10:05 - 10:06That is oak.
-
10:06 - 10:08Every sample we tested from India is oak
-
10:08 - 10:13and that's a 172 different flavours
in one taste of Indian honey. -
10:13 - 10:17Provincetown honey goes
from a 116 plants in the spring -
10:17 - 10:20to over 200 plants in the summer.
-
10:20 - 10:24These are the numbers that we need
to test the habitat hypothesis -
10:24 - 10:25in another citizen science approach.
-
10:25 - 10:29You find out about your food
and we get some interesting data. -
10:29 - 10:31So, we're finding out now
that in rural areas -
10:31 - 10:34there are a 150 plants on average
in a sample of honey. -
10:34 - 10:36That's a measure for rural.
-
10:36 - 10:38Suburban areas, what might you think?
-
10:38 - 10:42Do they have less or more plants
in suburban areas with lawns - -
10:42 - 10:46that look nice for people
but they're terrible for pollinators? -
10:46 - 10:49Suburbs have very low plant diversity,
-
10:49 - 10:50so if you have a beautiful lawn,
-
10:50 - 10:54well, good for you, but you can do more.
-
10:54 - 10:57You can have a patch of your lawn
that's a wildflower medow -
10:57 - 11:00to diversify your habitat
to improve pollinator health. -
11:00 - 11:02Anybody can do this.
-
11:02 - 11:05Urban areas have the most habitat.
-
11:05 - 11:08The best habitat they have -
-
11:08 - 11:11As you can see here,
over 200 different plants. -
11:11 - 11:15We have, for the first time ever,
support for the habitat hypothesis. -
11:15 - 11:18We also now know
how we can work with cities. -
11:18 - 11:22The city of Boston has eight times
better habitat than its nearby suburbs. -
11:22 - 11:26And so when we work with governments,
we can scale this. -
11:26 - 11:30You might think on my tombstone it'll say,
"Here lies Noah, plant a flower," right? -
11:30 - 11:31(Laughter)
-
11:31 - 11:34It's exhausting after all of this, right?
-
11:34 - 11:35But when we scale together,
-
11:35 - 11:38when we go to governments
and city planners - -
11:38 - 11:40Like, in Boston, the honey
is mostly Linden trees, -
11:40 - 11:43and we say, "If a dead tree needs
to be replaced, consider Linden." -
11:43 - 11:47So, when we take this information
to governments, we can do amazing things. -
11:47 - 11:49This is a rooftop from Fred's company.
-
11:49 - 11:52We can plant those things
on top of rooftops worldwide -
11:52 - 11:56to start restoring habitat
and securing food systems. -
11:56 - 11:57We've worked with the World Bank,
-
11:57 - 12:00and the presidential delegation
from the country of Haiti. -
12:00 - 12:04We've worked with wonderful graduate
students at Yale University in Ethiopia, -
12:04 - 12:07and in these countries we can add value
to their honey by identifying what it is, -
12:07 - 12:11but informing the people
of what to plant to restore their habitats -
12:11 - 12:13and secure their food systems.
-
12:13 - 12:17But what I think is even more important
is when we think about natural disasters. -
12:17 - 12:20For the first time, we now know
how we can have a baseline measure -
12:20 - 12:23of any habitat before
it might be destroyed. -
12:23 - 12:24Think about your hometown.
-
12:24 - 12:28What risks does
the environment pose to it? -
12:28 - 12:31This is how we're going to save
Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. -
12:31 - 12:34We now have a baseline measure of honey,
-
12:34 - 12:37honey DNA from before and after the storm.
-
12:37 - 12:39We started in Humacao.
-
12:39 - 12:42This is right where
Hurricane Maria made landfall. -
12:42 - 12:46And we know what plants to replace,
and in what quantity and where, -
12:46 - 12:48by triangulating honey DNA samples.
-
12:49 - 12:53You might even think about right here,
the beautiful land that connected us, -
12:53 - 12:56that primed all the
citizen science to begin with. -
12:56 - 13:00The erosion, the winter storms
that are getting more violent every year. -
13:00 - 13:04What are we going to do about this,
our precious land? -
13:04 - 13:05While looking at honey DNA,
-
13:05 - 13:07we can see what plants
are good for pollinators -
13:07 - 13:10that have deep roots
that can secure the land. -
13:10 - 13:15And together, everybody can participate
and the solution fits in a teaspoon. -
13:15 - 13:20If your hometown might get swept away
or destroyed by a natural disaster, -
13:20 - 13:26we now have a blueprint suspended in time
for how to restore that on Earth, -
13:26 - 13:30or perhaps even in a greenhouse on Mars.
-
13:30 - 13:34I know it sounds crazy,
but think about this, -
13:34 - 13:35a new Provincetown,
-
13:36 - 13:38a new hometown,
-
13:38 - 13:40a place that might be familiar
-
13:40 - 13:43that's also good for pollinators
for a stable food system, -
13:43 - 13:45when we're thinking about the future.
-
13:45 - 13:48Now, together we know what's saving bees:
-
13:48 - 13:50By planting diverse habitats.
-
13:50 - 13:52We know how bees are going to save us:
-
13:52 - 13:56By being barometers
for environmental health, -
13:56 - 13:59by being blueprints,
sources of information, -
13:59 - 14:02little data factories, suspended in time.
-
14:02 - 14:05And now you all know exactly
what you can do as citizen scientists -
14:05 - 14:07to get beehives.
-
14:07 - 14:08Thank you.
-
14:08 - 14:10(Applause)
- Title:
- Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown
- Description:
-
Before sending bees into space, we must shift our perspective away from why bees are dying, toward why they are surviving: Habitat diversity. Engaging speaker and bee ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich uses bee hives, honey DNA and citizen science to capture data about our environment, our botanical mix and ways to take those lessons around the world and all the way to Mars. Noah Wilson-Rich, ecologist, unveils new research about honey DNA and how bees might be a required part of living on other planets.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:16
Leonardo Silva approved English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Leonardo Silva edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Leonardo Silva edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Leonardo Silva edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Leonardo Silva edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Leonardo Silva edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Jenny Lam edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown | ||
Jenny Lam edited English subtitles for Honeybees from Cape Cod to Mars | Noah Wilson-Rich | TEDxProvincetown |