Florida teen's CO2 mite blower slashes Varroa deaths and boosts honey yields

Aakash Manaswi, a 17-year-old from Orlando, engineered a CO₂-based mite blower to combat the Varroa destructor parasite that threatens up to half of honey-bee colonies each year. Over a ten-week trial involving sixty hives, his system reduced mite populations as well as the chemical tau-fluvalinate and performed better than amitraz and coumaphos, all while maintaining bee survival, tissue integrity, and immune cell counts.

Because carbon dioxide does not linger in hive products and does not foster resistance, it offers a residue-free, environmentally safe alternative to synthetic miticides such as Apivar and Apistan. The cost per application is about one-tenth of a penny, compared with $17-$23 for conventional treatments, potentially saving beekeepers $40-$54,000 each year and billions globally. Manaswi’s work earned him the Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication and a place among the top ten finalists of the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, and beekeepers are already adopting his blower in the field.