A group of women undertook the challenge to relocate beehives from the dense-populated capital of Mexico, giving the endangered insect a chance to survive and continue to play its crucial role in our ecosystem.
“We do these rescues because it’s a species that’s in danger of extinction,” explains veterinarian Adriana Velíz, who works for Abeja Negra SOS. “We’re an alternative so that the emergency teams don’t exterminate them. We give them a second chance.”
Founded in 2018, Abeja Negra SOS’s team – composed mainly of women – has traveled across Mexico City to save bee colonies from trees, street gutters, and lamp posts. Over the last five years, some 510 hives – with an average size of 80,000 bees – have been relocated. They are first taken to the rural outskirts of the city where they recover and grow strong. Then, they are either donated to local bee farmers or released into the wild. In 2019, the United Nations raised an alarm: bee loss was posing a serious threat to global food security since bees play a crucial role in the pollination process. “They don’t just pollinate what we eat. They also pollinate native plants that regulate the entire ecosystem. And now, with climate change, reforestation is so important and (bee pollination) influences that.”
