VOA今日美国2023 墨西哥城一公司致力于拯救蜜蜂

A company in Mexico City is working to save some small, but important members, of the Mexican capital's community --- bees.

墨西哥城的一家公司正在努力拯救墨西哥首都社区的一些渺小但重要的成员——蜜蜂。

The flying insects play a big part in a healthy ecosystem¹ as pollinators.

作为传粉者，该飞虫在健康的生态系统中发挥着重要作用。

The company is called Abeja Negra SOS.

该公司名为Abeja Negra SOS。

Abeja means bee in Spanish and negra means black.

Abeja在西班牙语中的意思是蜜蜂，negra的意思是黑色。

SOS is a code used to communicate an urgent need for help.

SOS是一种用于传达紧急需要帮助的代码。

The company's main effort is to find new homes for bees threatened with destruction by bee removal services.

该公司的主要工作是为受到蜜蜂驱逐服务威胁的蜜蜂寻找新的家园。

They usually destroy the bee homes, called beehives, in their work.

他们在工作中通常会破坏蜂巢。

Abeja Negra SOS was created in 2018.

Abeja Negra SOS成立于2018年。

Its leader, Adriana Veliz, is an animal doctor.

它的领导人Adriana Veliz是一名动物医生。

She was working for the government, she said, when she started noticing calls about beehive removal needs.

她说，当她为政府工作时，她开始注意到有关拆除蜂巢需求的电话。

She said the government's first answer was to kill the bees.

她说，政府的第一反应是杀死蜜蜂。

So, she and other coworkers began looking for a way to remove the bees and their homes without such destruction.

因此，她和其他同事开始寻找一种在不造成破坏的情况下移走蜜蜂和它们的家的方法。

They decided² on re-homing the insects.

他们决定重新安置这些昆虫。

"We do these rescues because it's a species³ that's in danger of extinction," said Veliz, adding, "We give them a second chance."

Veliz说：“我们这么做是因为这是一个濒临灭绝的物种，我们给了它们第二次机会。”

Around the world, bee numbers have decreased sharply⁴ in recent history.

在世界各地，蜜蜂的数量在近代史上急剧减少。

The United States alone is estimated to have lost around 25 percent of its bees in the past 40 years.

据估计，在过去的40年里，仅美国就失去了大约25%的蜜蜂。

Earlier this year, beekeepers in southern Mexico mourned the "mass killing⁵" of millions of bees by farming chemicals.

今年早些时候，墨西哥南部的养蜂人为因农药而导致数百万只蜜蜂“大规模死亡”而痛惜。

The decrease in bee populations is often blamed on human causes.

蜜蜂数量的减少通常被归咎于人为原因。

Reasons include the use of damaging chemicals, the destruction of natural environments, and climate change.

原因包括使用有害化学物质、破坏自然环境和气候变化。

Scientists and world leaders warn that decreasing bee numbers could have many different effects.

科学家和世界领导人警告称，蜜蜂数量的减少可能会产生许多不同的影响。

In 2019, the United Nations declared that bee loss is a serious threat to worldwide food security.

2019年，联合国宣布蜜蜂流失会对全球粮食安全造成严重威胁。

Adriana Correa Benitez is a professor researching bees at National Autonomous⁶ University of Mexico.

阿德里亚娜·科雷亚·贝尼特斯是墨西哥国立自治大学研究蜜蜂的教授。

She said loss of bees could make it more difficult for Mexico to deal with climate change.

她说，蜜蜂数量减少可能会使墨西哥更难应对气候变化。

Because many of the bees in Mexico come from African roots, they can be more aggressive than the average honeybee.

由于墨西哥的许多蜜蜂来自非洲，所以它们可能会比普通蜜蜂更具攻击性。

Some people living in the city fear bee attacks and bee stings⁷.

一些住在城市里的人害怕蜜蜂攻击和蜜蜂叮咬。

And some also may not understand the importance of bees.

还有一些人可能不了解蜜蜂的重要性。

During the last five years, Abeja Negra SOS says it has saved bees in hives all around the capital city, which is home to nine million people.

Abeja Negra SOS表示，在过去的五年里，他们在首都各地的蜂巢里拯救了蜜蜂，首都有900万人。

The group says it has re-homed about 510 hives.

该组织表示，他们已经重新安置了大约510个蜂巢。

The average population of such a hive is 80,000 bees.

一个蜂巢里平均有8万只蜜蜂。

Once a removed hive is safely stored inside of a box, the group takes the bees to the rural edges of the city.

一旦被移走的蜂巢被安全地储存在盒子里，该组织就会把蜜蜂带到城乡结合地区。

The bees can recover there and grow stronger.

蜜蜂可以在那里恢复并变得更强壮。

They later give the bees to local bee farmers or release them into the wild.

之后，他们把蜜蜂交给当地的养蜂人，或者把它们放归野外。

The team has faced some difficulties because their hive re-homing service costs a bit more than $300.

该团队遇到了一些困难，因为他们重新安置蜂巢的服务费用略高于300美元。

For many in the city, it is still easier to call firefighters to exterminate⁸ bees for free.

对于这座城市的许多人来说，打电话叫消防员来免费消灭蜜蜂会更容易。

Yet, the project has grown.

然而，这个项目已经发展壮大。

And talk of Abeja Negra SOS has also led to the creation⁹ of other groups who are doing the same work.

关于Abeja Negra SOS的讨论也导致了其他正在做同样工作的组织的成立。

"With what we do, we may not be changing the world, but we're at least changing the situation in our city," Veliz said.

Veliz说：“我们所做的事情也许不能改变世界，但我们至少改变了我们城市的情况”。

1 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

4 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

7 stings   

螫伤处( sting的名词复数 )； （某些昆虫的）毒刺； （身体或心灵的）剧痛； （警察为抓捕罪犯而设的）圈套

参考例句：

• Falsehood like a nettle stings those who meddle with it. 谎言似荨麻，玩弄会刺手。
• This cream contains a mild analgesic to soothe stings and bites. 这种乳膏含有一种性能平和的止痛剂，能缓解被螫咬后的疼痛。

8 exterminate   

v.扑灭，消灭，根绝

参考例句：

• Some people exterminate garden insects by spraying poison on the plants.有些人在植物上喷撒毒剂以杀死花园内的昆虫。
• Woodpeckers can exterminate insect pests hiding in trees.啄木鸟能消灭躲在树里的害虫。

9 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。