本集内容

How a new 'superfood' for bees could help our own food security

为蜜蜂研发的一种新型 “超级食物” 如何帮助保障人类自身的食品安全

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Nick Mensikov, Cardiff, Vale and Valleys Beekeepers Association
"I know the queen is in here somewhere. Whether we find her is another thing."

尼克·门西科夫 卡迪夫、格拉摩根谷和南威尔士山谷养蜂人协会
“我知道蜂王就在这里面的某个地方。至于我们能不能找到她，那就是另一回事了。”

Nick has been keeping honeybees for 15 years and selling the honey in South Wales.

尼克从事养蜂工作已经 15 年了，他一直在南威尔士销售蜂蜜。

But he's run into problems. In the last year, his bees have been dying in huge numbers.

但他遇到了一些麻烦。在过去的一年中，他的蜜蜂大量死亡。

Nick Mensikov, Cardiff, Vale and Valleys Beekeepers Association
"It's just a bit of an unknown, really, at the present moment. This year, I've lost around about 75 per cent of the colonies through the winter. Although the hives have all been full of food, the bees have just dwindled. Most of the bees survived through January, February, and then, puff, they were just sort of vanished."

尼克·门西科夫 卡迪夫、维尔和山谷养蜂人协会
“现在这种情况真的有点让人摸不着头脑。今年冬天，我大概失去了 75% 的蜂群。虽然蜂巢里一直装满了食物，但蜜蜂数量还是在大幅减少。大部分蜜蜂熬过了一月和二月，然后它们就好像突然消失了。”

Georgina Rannard, BBC Correspondent

Bees gather what they need to make honey from flowers, and that honey is their food in winter. But to replace the honey that we eat, lots of beekeepers feed them supplementary food, basically sugar and water. But scientists say that that food is missing a key essential ingredient.

乔治娜·兰纳德 BBC 通讯员

蜜蜂从花朵中采集制作蜂蜜所需的物质，而这些蜂蜜就是它们冬天的食物。然而为了代替被人类吃掉的蜂蜜，许多养蜂人会给它们喂食补充食物，基本上就是糖和水。但科学家们表示，这种食物缺少一种关键的必要成分。

After serving different foods to bees for 15 years, scientists have finally discovered how to manufacture a core ingredient.

在不断给蜜蜂喂食不同的食物 15 年后，科学家们终于发现了如何制造一种核心成分。

It's called sterol, and has always been missing from the supplementary food beekeepers use.

这种被称为甾醇的物质一直以来都是养蜂人使用的补充食物中所缺失的成分。

At Oxford University, scientists like Jennifer develop foods for bees.

在牛津大学，和詹妮弗一起共事的科学家们在为蜜蜂研发食物。

Like humans, bees must eat a varied diet to stay healthy.

就像人类一样，蜜蜂必须摄入多样化的饮食才能保持健康。

Jennifer Chennells, Oxford University
"So we're putting lots of different ingredients into like a cookie dough for the bees, different proteins, different fats, to try and work out what they like best and what's best for them."

詹妮弗·切内尔斯 牛津大学
“我们把很多不同的成分放进给蜜蜂做曲奇饼干的面团里，比如，不同的蛋白质、不同的脂肪，试图找出它们最喜欢吃什么，什么对它们最好。”

Woah. Thank you.

哇。谢谢你。

And there's a zip that goes round to keep them out.

这里有一个拉链可以把它们挡在外面。

It's out here where Professor Geraldine Wright tested the new food on bees, to see if it made them healthier.

就是在这里，杰拉尔丁·赖特教授在蜜蜂身上测试了这种新食物，来看看它是否能让蜜蜂更健康。

Hello girls. Hello.

姑娘们，大家好。

The bees that ate the complete diet, with the sterol, were healthier and had up to 15 times more baby bees, like this one, that grew into adults.

结果发现，吃了含甾醇、营养全面的食物的蜜蜂更加健康，并且它们长大成为成蜂的数量是没有吃这种食物的蜜蜂的 15 倍，就像这只已经长成了成蜂的幼蜂。

The scientists say this should also protect our food security, as bees help pollinate over 70 per cent of global crops.

科学家们表示，这也应该能保护我们的食品安全，因为蜜蜂帮助全球 70% 以上的农作物授粉。

Professor Geraldine Wright, Oxford University
"The work that we did here represents a major technological breakthrough for the beekeeping industry, and for food security and global pollination. Our breakthrough means that we can essentially keep the honeybees going in the absence of floral pollen. And this will mean that people will have hopefully less winter losses."

杰拉尔丁·赖特教授 牛津大学
“我们在这里所做的工作代表了一项重大的技术突破，这会影响到养蜂业、食品安全和全球农业授粉。我们的这项突破意味着我们基本上可以让蜜蜂在没有花粉的情况下存活下去。这将意味着在冬季由于蜂群数量所导致的损失有望减少。”

Bigger trials are now needed, but Nick hopes that this new food will mean a better future for these animals that we all depend on.

现在研究人员需要进行更大规模的试验，但尼克希望这种新食物的出现将意味着这些我们都依赖的动物会有一个更美好的未来。