Two high school scientists are tackling the honeybee crisis and won the grand prize at Santa Cruz County Science Fair.
Jackson Damhorst, 14, from Scotts Valley partnered with Max Freedman, 15, from Corralitos to win the top prize. Each participates in Alternative Family Education Program and together they were the top winners at the 2017 Santa Cruz County Science Fair.
They are heading to Los Angeles in April and May to compete at the California State Science Fair and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest international pre-college science competition where the brightest and most innovative teens from around the world compete for $5 million in prizes.
The students’ project on honeybees focused on preventing colony losses.
Honeybees have suffered major declines over the past ten years. Beekeepers are struggling to keep up with the losses and are desperate for solutions.
Bees face a constellation of threats including: climate change, loss of forage habitat, use of pesticides that contain neonicotinoids, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and Varroa mites.
Freedman, a local beekeeper with 10 hives of his own, says the project started when he noticed his bees behaving strangely.
“I’ve been treating my bees for Varroa mites and afterwards they wander around like they’re confused.” Freedman, curious about his bee’s behavior and launched a project with Damhorst to study the effects of mite treatments on bees.
Damhorst explains, “We really wanted to see if the treatments would affect bee memory or if it was just a fluke.”
Freedman and Damhorst conducted their research in Corralitos on Freedman’s beehives.
“We found that there is a connection between treatments and bee memory. Our next step is to see if the effect is temporary or not” Freedman said.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to move on to the next level of competition” Damhorst added.
This is Damhorst’s first Santa Cruz County Science Fair, and Freedman’s eighth. “We are so proud of all our students, and can’t wait to see them move on with their project.” Adam Wade, Science Fair Coordinator for County Office of Education.
“Our theme is ‘Kick it up a notch’ and these young scientists sure did!”
