This is my Caring for the Kenai project that I became a top 12 finalist in March of 2021.
Since that time, I've put some time and effort into making this idea better, with the help of so many in our community that are passionate and knowledgeable about what they do.
My idea started simple.
Elephants in Mozambique were stampeding farming villages for food and in short were uncontrollable. The villagers had to put a stop to this without harming the elephants. Their idea, was ingenious, they used bees. The villagers set up a 'bee fence'. This fence was a simple rope strung between posts, with a modified bee hive on every other section. When the elephants would run into the rope that surrounded the village, it would shake all the bee hives and cause the bees to converge upon their disturber, which happened to be the elephants responsible for trying to stampede the village. The villagers found that the bees were highly effective in deterring the elephants naturally without human elephant interaction or harming the elephants.
After seeing the above situation unfold on a PBS NOVA, I realized that bees in Africa might help us revolutionize the trash in our local community.
I spend a lot of time on the community trails running and skiing. I joke with my friends about the number of majestic trash birds that hang out in the giant cottonwoods at these trails. We usually joke this may be the only place in Alaska that has more birds than the dump. For those that are unfamiliar with my poor attempt at a joke, majestic trash birds that can be found by the dozens are also known as our national bird, the bald eagle, and any local in Alaska on the road system knows if all else fails, take the visiting relatives to the dump to see lots of eagles. One day it occurred to me, while joking about these birds, while also avoiding their droppings on the trails, these birds are coming directly from the dump. Whatever tasty morsel they decided to dine on there, was now in our pristine natural ecosystem, on the trail, right in front of me in their droppings.
In my own research on if bees could deter eagles like they did with elephants in Mozambique, I found a single article in Scientific America that stated if there is a bee hive near a bird's nest, the bird will abandon the nest. Being a bright eyed and bushy tailed freshman high school student armed with almost 3 academic quarters of basic biology, this was all the proof I needed to become an expert on why my idea should at the very least be tested.
Here we are.
I have since spent countless hours researching the impact of the landfill on our community and its ripple effect of drug resistant bacteria present in our water, soil and wildlife. I have also learned about birds and their disgusting life choices and the pecking order they create when food sources are low in the winter at the dump. I've also had to become a bit of a bee expert, learning that they are fickle little beasts that could possibly save our world in more ways than one.
While my idea started simple, like anything in good science, it's become more complex. This idea has stumbled upon a huge community threat that we all need to come together and address now because it will eventually snowball beyond our control if we don't.
If you'd like to donate to this cause, which will go towards building bee hives and bees, we appreciate the help. Donations can be made through venmo, with the subject line BEE BOMBS to be designated and acknowledged on our 'donors page'. Thank you!