May 28, 2018 SPOTLIGHT ON…MIKAILA ULMER! You might think that getting stung by a bee twice in one week at age four would make someone hate bees! But Mikaila Ulmer, now 13, became fascinated by them instead! She learned how important they are for our ecosystem, since plants wouldn’t grow without pollination, which bees provide. She also learned that bees are dying out at an alarming rate. Think about that for a second: without bees, plants wouldn’t grow! So if bees go extinct…what will we eat?! (And if you’re thinking, “Nikki, I hate vegetables!”, I get it. But we also need plants to feed our sources of meat and dairy. PLUS…sugar comes from a plant. So does chocolate! OMG!) With some help from an old family recipe, Mikaila developed a honey-sweetened lemonade company called Me & the Bees Lemonade. Mikaila is the CEO, but she prefers to be called the Queen Bee. 🙂 At first she sold it at events for youth entrepreneurs (or young business people), and NOW her lemonade is in Whole Foods grocery stores across the country! And here’s the best part: Mikaila donates some of the profits from every bottle of lemonade she sells to organizations that are working to help save bees from extinction. She also gives workshops on how to save bees—because it’s not just for scientists! Here are three things YOU can do to help the bees: Encourage your family to use non-toxic cleaning and gardening products. Harsh chemicals and pesticides are a big part of why the bees are dying! Plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden. If you don’t have a yard, even window boxes or potted plants can help. Bees love native wildflowers, flowering herbs, fruits and vegetables. Buy local honey. This supports your local beekeepers, who are doing the most work to help save the bees. If you want tips on how to be a kid entrepreneur, here’s what Mikaila says: “Be a social entrepreneur. Do something to help solve problems in the world. Don’t go into business to make a lot of money. Create a business that you see the world is missing, solve a problem with it and do something you have a passion for. Because the more passionate you are about what you do, the more fun you have while doing it!” You can check out Mikaila’s website at Me & the Bees Lemonade and you can find her on Twitter at @MikailasBees and on Instagram at @MikailasBees. I don’t know about you, but I am SO inspired by Mikaila. I want to start a business! I want to save the bees! I want to save the WORLD!! What’s something you could do to help the environment? Tell us in the comments!