this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2025
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[–] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 38 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Um, isn't this like majorly good news? Like maybe among our most important discoveries?

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 29 points 5 days ago

Sorta. If you're a beekeeper I can see this being a major deal. Not clear on how hard this yeast is to grow or how well the process scales.

Bees got a threefold problem, and we need to get at the roots of the issue.

  • Pesticides and herbicides. Won't happen, but governments need to ban these products for consumers, restrict them to professionals. Karen and Ken don't need a perfect lawn sacrificing the bottom of the food chain.

  • We need to grow more, and more indigenous, plants of all kinds. Working on it in my yard, doing well so far. Last year the bumblebees were so loud I thought it was construction on the next block over. :)

  • Verona mites are a monster issue. They came to America in the 90s and are whipping our ass. Haven't looked into beekeeping for awhile, not sure where we're at with that.

[–] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago

Good for bee keepers, but most plants are pollinated by wild bees. So this could help, but doesn't really change much in the grand scheme.

[–] KSPAtlas@sopuli.xyz 10 points 5 days ago (2 children)

The whole "save the bees" thing is about wild bees, not domesticated ones I think

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

And the problem isn't just bees either. Broadly, insect populations are in free-fall. There are many stretches of highway in the US now where you don't need to clean your windshield after hours on the road. We've lost a massive chunk of our flying pollinator population, to say nothing of the roles they play in the food chains.

Massive-scale farming and pesticide use is going to leave us starving, ironically enough.

[–] Tinidril@midwest.social 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This isn't true. Colony collapse disorder has been a big problem for beekeepers.

[–] Artisian@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Though interesting they've been staving it off rather directly; you have millions of colonies die, but you can breed millions more per year to keep the population stable. It is more expensive, and a bit dark for the bees.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

For honey producers. This isn't going to help our ecosystem broadly.

[–] frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 5 days ago

Nobel Prize in all categories.