WEBVTT

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Bees. They are indispensable
to our food supply.

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You can really hear
them. They are excited.

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They want to go out. -Yes,
they want to get to work.

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These animals do really make
a lot of noise. -Indeed

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And we are going to let them go in a
moment, so they can pollinate the crops.

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But all over the world the
bee is slowly going extinct.

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Concerns about the massive bee
extinction are nothing new.

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Measures to combat
bee extinction are.

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Honey bees are an essential part
of American food production,

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but now they are
dying off at an alarming rate.

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The number of colonies in Germany has
fallen by 40 percent since 1990.

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The tide is now being
turned in the Netherlands.

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A unique rescue program
run by volunteers...

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set up to save the bee
from worldwide decline.

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There is a sense of
illegality about it all.

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That's what it looks like, as
if they're dealing in weed.

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But this is possibly
even more expensive?

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This is gold, yes.

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In our research we go
beyond the problems

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Looking for solutions
and new perspectives.

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Looking for the plus.

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And these hives are infested with
the great killer of the honey bee?

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Yes. The 'beast' is
called Varroa destructor.

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That is a very
good name for it.

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The mite itself does not
actually kill the bee.

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But all the viruses it transmits
are fatal to the bee.

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The Varroa mite is a parasite that severely
compromises the health of the colony.

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The misery started
about 30 years ago.

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Ironically, at that very moment
Gerbert Kos became a beekeeper.

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We put on the veil.

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Spectacles on.

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So now I'm looking for a bee
that has deformed wings.

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That is one of the viruses.

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Look, this queen has very
small wings. Can you see?

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And this is a queen who is critically ill?
-Yes, she is ill, she cannot do...

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anything at all. She can't fly either, so
she could never go on a mating flight.

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That means that this
colony is very ill.

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So I must treat this colony as soon
as possible against the Varroa mite.

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The only thing left to do is to
pour poison into the colony.

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You vaporize the formic acid. However,
if you spill it on your hands...

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then it will burn a hole
in your skin immediately.

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So you really have
to be very careful.

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The acid kills the mite, but
also weakens the bee colony.

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And so the bee has ended
up in a downward spiral.

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Without a way out of it.

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So the colonies are kept going
by treating them with poison?

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Yes, because if you don't, you won't
have any bees left in two years time.

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Are the risks clearly indicated?

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Yes, toxic if inhaled, causes
severe burns and eye injury.

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Caustic to the airways. -Wow

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And you pour that into
the colonies? -Yes.

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Isn't it bad?

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But there is a solution
for bee mortality.

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Earlier this year I made a
hopeful story about that.

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We had to travel a bit
for it. To Hawaii.

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Good morning. -Good morning.

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This really is the other
side of the world, right?

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Literally the other
side of the world

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Here, a friend of Gerbert, the
Dutchman BartJan Fernhout...

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carries out research into
creating a super bee.

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A bee that is resistant to its
biggest enemy, the Varroa mite.

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But this is actually the first
time that you are publicly...

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sharing the results? - Yes, the
first time I feel comfortable...

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showing this to
someone like you.

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Because there have been big
expectations for a long time...

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that something
should be possible.

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But now for the first time
we have large colonies...

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on this scale, that are able
to keep the Varroa in check.

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The research is so successful
that the super bee project...

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has been brought from
Hawai to the Netherlands.

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Our country should become
the global epicentre for...

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the biggest rescue
operation of the bee ever.

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The super bee is bred here and
released on a large scale.

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A massive project,
coordinated by Gerbert.

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What are you adding? -CO2.

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You anaesthesize them with it.

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Look, they are still moving now
and soon they will go to sleep.

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What are these? -Drones.

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Males. -Yes.

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And how do you
collect the semen?

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Well, he must first
have an erection.

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I say: Bee porn.

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I hope he is ripe.

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How much semen do you need?

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I use the semen of
a single drone.

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That is about one microliter.

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That’s about the amount we have.

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That is enough to fertilize
the queen? -Yes.

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Across the Netherlands
beekeepers raise this super bee,

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in backyards, sheds and
cellars. Painstaking work.

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Yes.

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What are you doing now?

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I am now focusing on the queen.

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So she can receive the semen,
through instrumental insemination.

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And this is the semen? That's
what you see in that drop...

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that goes into in
the queen? -Yes.

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And she is fertilized now?
-She has now been fertilized.

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She has lost her virginity.

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Yes, yes, she is pregnant.

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Congratulations, you
have made a super bee.

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Yes, that's right. This queen was
already resistant to the Varroa mite.

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And I used semen from a drone
that was also resistant.

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This means that all her
offspring is also resistant.

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When I think of a beekeeper, I
don't think of a lab technician.

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No, that's right.
It is very unusual.

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But for this project, it is
essential to use insemination.

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Otherwise it takes far too long,
then it might take 40 years.

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And now you have
results in 1, 2 years.

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What an enormous facility.
-Yes, it is really big.

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This facility is about
12 hectares in size.

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And these are all
greenhouses with crops...

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which have to be pollinated
by your bees? -Yes.

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We have come to the right
place to also understand...

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the importance of the super
bee project to humans.

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We are at the company Bejo, one of the
largest seed producers of the Netherlands.

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Shall I lend a
hand? -Yes, great.

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That is not too bad.

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These hives are closed, I hope.
-They are properly closed.

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Bram Vroegop is one of four professional
beekeepers of the seed producer.

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I get to spend a day with him.

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How many bees are there
in a hive like this?

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I'd say about 15,000 bees.

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The distances are quite long,
that's why you need these vehicles.

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Indeed, it is very convenient.

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Hello. -Bicycles are
also used a lot.

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What does Bejo do actually?

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Bejo develops and
produces vegetable seeds.

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We specialize in cabbage,
carrot, beet, onion.

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And spinach and celery.

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These are beets, aren't they?

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This is a beet plant,
yes. It is in bloom.

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You can see the seed developing.

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And that's what it's all
about in the end? -Yes.

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This way. We are going to use
a bee hive for pollination.

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Okay, what's in here?

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Carrots in bloom.

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And the carrots need
these bees? -Yes.

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These flowers have
to be pollinated.

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The pollen must be
transported to the pistil.

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Which the bees are masters at.

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You can really hear
them. They are excited.

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They want to go out. -Yes,
they want to get to work.

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These animals do really make
a lot of noise. -Indeed

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Shall I open it? -There they go.

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They go to work for us. One of
the biggest employees of Bejo.

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The bees? -Yes.

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Now we have to take a step back.
-Yeah, are they going to sting?

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Well already a bit.

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I think they want
to pollinate us.

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What a beautiful sight
that is. -Indeed.

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Oh, o. Yes, they want to do
more than they were hired for.

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Yes, they already got me.

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Have you got one inside? -Yes,
I have a little visitor.

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She can go back.

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A few hobby beekeepers
came up to you and said:

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We have the solution.

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Yes, we are going to create a super bee
that is resistant to the Varroa mite.

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We were immediately enthusiastic.
The Varroa mite is a huge problem.

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Bejo also does selection
on vegetable crops...

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to make them resistant
to diseases and pests.

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So we thought: This should
also be possible for bees.

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You believe in it and it
is going to happen now.

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Yes, we believe in it, and we
also participate in that program.

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The super bee should be widely
distributed throughout Europe.

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In order to do that, Mother
Nature has to lend a hand.

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That's why there is a special mating
station on the Dutch peninsula Marken.

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And why are you on an island?

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Because the queens are
mated in the air.

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By an average of 15 males.

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And such a queen can fly
3 km. And a drone too.

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A drone is a male bee. -Yes.

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They use the landscape
to orient themselves ...

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to be able to
return to the hive.

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And above water they lose their
orientation, they don't fly over water.

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An international network of professional
beekeepers all come here for ONE purpose.

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To have their best queen
mated by male super bees.

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They gather in a parking
lot just before Marken.

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It seems as if a secret gold
trade is taking place here.

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What is happening here? -The
colonies are dropped off here.

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That will soon go to
the mating station.

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They stay there for two weeks and after
those two weeks, when they are mated...

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then they have been mated
by those pure drones.

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Why do they have to be brought
to the car park here?

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Because you are not allowed to go to
Marken by car. That is forbidden.

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Where do you come
from with these bees?

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Belgium. West Flanders.
-And what's in there?

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The queens are per 4. There
are 16 of them here.

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You are from ....?
-300 kilometres.

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From Belgium, to have the
bees mated here on Marken?

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Yes, that is only possible in
the Netherlands, nowhere else.

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Where do you come from?
-Nivelles, Belgium

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That's quite a long drive.

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Wouldn' t it be great, to get a super
bee that is resistant to the Varroa?

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That would be fantastic.

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It is Saturday
evening, 19.00 hours.

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People from all over the Netherlands,
Belgium and Germany come together here.

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The beekeepers themselves are not
allowed to go to Marken,

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they have to leave their queens here.
They will be taken to be mated there.

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Invoke Ambrose tonight.
Yes. Saint Ambrose.

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We need to invoke him and then
we will certainly succeed.

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I gave them a little
Viagra. Ha ha ha.

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Yes, there goes a
trailer full of gold.

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Special queens.

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And the queens are also
a bit the hope for...?

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For the future. -Yes?

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So that in a few years there is no need
to treat bees with chemical garbage.

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From now on, beekeepers from all over
Europe will continue to supply queens...

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so that the super bee spreads
like an oil slick across Europe.

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We get special permission to see
how the mating station works.

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What are these bees
going to do here?

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The hives are dropped
off and then?

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Then they orientate
themselves in this area.

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So they know exactly to
which hive to return to.

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They know that with an
accuracy of a few centimetres.

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Then she usually goes on a
mating flight the next day.

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That is a flight in which
she will mate with males.

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What happens then? Is she going
to a certain place? -Yes.

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But because there is an excess of
males here, at this station...

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you see the queen fly off
when the weather is right.

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When she is just 3, 4 meters
away from the hive,

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then hundreds of those males follow her.
And she mates.

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The whole project is carried
out by hundreds of volunteers.

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They work day and night on the
success of the super bee.

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But to their great frustration they
hardly get any help from outside.

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There is no support whatsoever
from the government.

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It's all providing
unpaid services?

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99.9999 percent is unpaid
services. At least for me.

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That's actually insane that when
you see that such a big problem...

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could be solved by what
you do here. -Yes.

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My wife has put a large
picture of me in the bedroom.

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It really takes a lot of work.
-Yes, the mating station....

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on top of your usual beekeeping and your
work, that's an enormous amount of work.

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If you see how many hours we have
to put in to get it how we want it...

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so that people can
come with their hives.

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And, of course, it
hangs over your head.

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Everyone comes with their queens and
if the drone colonies are not okay...

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the result is also bad.
You don't want that.

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But you do it with love?
-Yes. I still do.

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The future of food production in the
hands of a group of Dutch volunteers.

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Bejo Zaden has also pinned
their hope on the project.

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Otherwise, there will be little left
in their warehouses in the future.

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If you don't let the bees pollinate, you
would lose a lot of what is stored here?

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80% would not be here.

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That would leave
only 20% of the lot.

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And that is why Bejo is now
helping out the hobby beekeepers.

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1, 2, there is a birth.

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The birth of a bee.

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This is an adult bee? -Yes.

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Here is another one at
the point of emergence.

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Yes, this whole frame is actually at
the point that the bees will emerge

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In the bee DNA we are
searching for a marker,

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which is a small piece
of DNA, which caries...

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the trait of cleaning
out the Varroa mite.

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If we find that, then it
would be possible to...

00:16:26.685 --> 00:16:29.664
quickly check if a colony
has this behaviour.

00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.160
And then you could eradicate
the Varroa mite sooner?

00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.760
Yes, then you can select for colonies
that have the trait in no time.

00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:41.560
But this is something else
than the small laboratories...

00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.600
that I have seen in the backyards
of beekeepers. -That's for sure.

00:16:44.640 --> 00:16:48.600
Bejo is an international company, located
in 30 countries around the world.

00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.840
They have excellent facilities
to do lab research.

00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:54.400
That means if you do so...

00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:58.440
that you support the project of the
superbee with a lot of facilities.

00:16:58.800 --> 00:17:01.760
Absolutely, yes. You just
have much better conditions.

00:17:03.880 --> 00:17:07.920
The Netherlands as epicenter for the
worldwide rescue of the honey bee.

00:17:08.040 --> 00:17:11.520
An impressive project that we will
continue to follow, of course.

00:17:12.360 --> 00:17:15.200
It would be fantastic
if this succeeds.

00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:18.800
And it is a natural process.
The bees do it themselves.

00:17:20.080 --> 00:17:23.968
If you're very realistic, how long
could or should it take before you...

00:17:23.993 --> 00:17:27.800
roll out this project across the
Netherlands and the rest of Europe?

00:17:27.800 --> 00:17:31.800
If you get everyone on
board, all organizations...

00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:34.800
then you will have resistant
bees within 10 years.

00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:41.680
This was Brandpunt
Plus for tonight.

00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.400
Thursday at 21.00
hours we are back.

00:17:46.280 --> 00:17:47.760
And how do you
collect the semen?

00:17:47.800 --> 00:17:49.920
Well, he must first
have an erection.

00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.200
I say: Bee porn.