VOA新闻杂志2023--Company Works to Save Mexico City’s Bees

Company Works to Save Mexico City’s Bees

A company in Mexico City is working to save some small, but important members, of the Mexican capital's community --- bees. The flying insects play a big part in a healthy ecosystem¹ as pollinators.

The company is called Abeja Negra SOS. Abeja means bee in Spanish and negra means black. SOS is a code used to communicate an urgent need for help.

The company's main effort is to find new homes for bees threatened with destruction by bee removal services. They usually destroy the bee homes, called beehives, in their work.

Abeja Negra SOS was created in 2018. Its leader, Adriana Velíz, is an animal doctor. She was working for the government, she said, when she started noticing calls about beehive removal needs. She said the government's first answer was to kill the bees.

So, she and other coworkers began looking for a way to remove the bees and their homes without such destruction. They decided² on re-homing the insects.

"We do these rescues because it's a species that's in danger of extinction³," said Velíz, adding, "We give them a second chance."

Around the world, bee numbers have decreased sharply in recent history. The United States alone is estimated to have lost around 25 percent of its bees in the past 40 years. Earlier this year, beekeepers in southern Mexico mourned the "mass killing⁴" of millions of bees by farming chemicals.

The decrease in bee populations is often blamed on human causes. Reasons include the use of damaging chemicals, the destruction of natural environments, and climate change. Scientists and world leaders warn that decreasing bee numbers could have many different effects.

In 2019, the United Nations declared that bee loss is a serious threat to worldwide food security.

Adriana Correa Benítez is a professor researching bees at National Autonomous⁵ University of Mexico. She said loss of bees could make it more difficult for Mexico to deal with climate change.

Because many of the bees in Mexico come from African roots, they can be more aggressive than the average honeybee. Some people living in the city fear bee attacks and bee stings. And some also may not understand the importance of bees.

During the last five years, Abeja Negra SOS says it has saved bees in hives all around the capital city, which is home to nine million people. The group says it has re-homed about 510 hives. The average population of such a hive is 80,000 bees.

Once a removed hive is safely stored inside of a box, the group takes the bees to the rural edges of the city. The bees can recover there and grow stronger. They later give the bees to local bee farmers or release them into the wild.

The team has faced some difficulties because their hive re-homing service costs a bit more than $300. For many in the city, it is still easier to call firefighters to exterminate⁶ bees for free.

Yet, the project has grown. And talk of Abeja Negra SOS has also led to the creation of other groups who are doing the same work.

"With what we do, we may not be changing the world, but we're at least changing the situation in our city," Velíz said.

Words in This Story

pollinator –n. an agent (such as an insect) that pollinates flowers

exterminate – v. to destroy or kill (a group of animals, people, etc.) completely

species – n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

extinction – n. the state or situation that results when something (such as a plant or animal species) has died out

1 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

6 exterminate   

v.扑灭，消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• Some people exterminate garden insects by spraying poison on the plants.有些人在植物上喷撒毒剂以杀死花园内的昆虫。
• Woodpeckers can exterminate insect pests hiding in trees.啄木鸟能消灭躲在树里的害虫。