New Zealand Quality Service Awards

12 Bees can detect odours in parts per trillion (think a grain of salt in an Olym- pic swimming pool). This makes them useful in locating landmines, such as those buried in the Balkans during the 1990s Yugoslav wars. Researchers train bees to associate the scent of explosives with a sug- ar solution, then they release them in the field. The bees then cluster where landmines are buried. Lucky for them, they’re far too light to trigger an explosion. 13 Managed and wild bee populations have been de- clining globally over recent decades due to habitat loss, inten- sive farming practices, changes in weather patterns and the use of agrochemicals such as pesticides. Many native bee species are also at risk. Filling your backyard with na- tive plants and wildf lowers is a great way to help the populations of these tiny pollinators. them away and won’t go near trees with beehives. Researchers in Africa use beehives, as well as ‘buzz boxes’ that emit the sound of bees, to deter elephants from raiding crops and res- idential areas. 10 With 11million followers on TikTok, Erika Thompson of Texas Beeworks may be the queen of beekeeping. She first went viral in 2020 after posting a video in which she handles massive swarms without any protective gear. 11 In May 2023, a swarm of bees landed on the wing of a Delta Air Lines plane parked in Houston, Texas delay- ing its departure for hours. In the spring, growing bee colonies fly in swarms in search of larger homes. They f ly about 1.5 kilometres at a time, stopping to rest in open spac- es like airports – many of which now use ‘pollinator-friendly practices’ to protect bees – and their staff. If The Hat Fits People have been fined for all sorts of misdemeanours down through history, but in 1797 Londonmilliner James Heatherington was fined £50 for what the court described as ‘appearing on the public highway wearing upon his head a tall structure having a shiny lustre and calculated to frighten timid people’. His crime was inciting a riot…by wearing the world’s first top hat. By the mid-19th century, top hats were the height of fashion among well-heeled gentlemen. FROM STRANGE BUT TRUE , COMPILED BY JIM PIKE READER’S DIGEST 16 December 2024/January 2025