Meet The Woman Rescuing Millions of Honey Bees

Meet The Woman Rescuing Millions of Honey Bees
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Yesterday, the Trump White House placed the rusty patched bumble bee, one of America’s most important pollinators, on the endangered species list. It becomes the first bumble bee in the United States to receive federal protections. To make things clear, this wasn’t an act of genuine compassion from Donald Trump but the result of a lawsuit prompting the Federal government to take action.

Bee populations have been on the decline for decades due to pesticides, loss of habitat, and climate change leaving environmentalists struggling to find a solution. Luckily, YouTuber and activist Rob Greenfield’s new video may give you some hope.

Enter, Hilary Kearney of Girl Next Door Honey, a local hero for struggling honeybees across the United States. Hilary works to raise San Diego’s bee population and spread awareness among her community. She rescues bees, teaches classes about them, and manages 90 colonies of bees.

Typically when bees make a hive or swarm where they are unwanted, a pest control company usually exterminates them, but not if Hilary has anything to do with it. She rescues bees and relocates them to a place where they can lead happy, healthy lives. Most of the bees she rescues are put into a bee friendly backyard as part of her Host-A-Hive program, so people can benefit from bees in their own backyard while Hilary does the maintenance and work.

Inspired to be a part of the solution to help the honeybees in your community?

Here’s what you can do: plant a variety of bee friendly flowers in your yard, don’t use any pesticides, buy real local honey, and don’t exterminate bees.

Shaiith via Getty Images

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