Little owls day

For nearly three decades, Canadian entomologist Gard Otis has dedicated himself to the study of behavior patterns in a native Vietnamese honeybee species, as well as to the development of local bee farming talent and technology in the north-central province of Ha Tinh.

Otis spent 36 years as a professor at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, where he specialized in honeybee biology and behavior, insect ecology, and forest entomology.

The distinguished researcher currently serves as an adjunct professor at the university’s School of Environmental Sciences.

A key area of Otis’s research and interest is focused on ‘murder hornets,’ commonly known as Asian giant hornets ( Vespa mandarinia ).

While working on National Geographic Society-funded beekeeping projects in north-central Vietnam several years ago, Prof. Otis began conducting extensive research on Vespa soror , a sister species to Vespa mandarinia.

Both hornets share similarities in size and behavior, including their tendency to attack and even ‘slaughter’ honeybee colonies.

In a video call with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in late January, the professor proudly shared the results of a recent study he undertook with the help of associates in Vietnam and the U.S., during which he discovered a collective defense strategy adopted by honeybees ( Apis cerana ) against swarms of Vespa soror .

The article was published late last year in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed journal launched by PLOS — a nonprofit, Open Access publisher which empowers researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine.

According to the article, honeybees in Asia have evolved under predatory pressure from social wasps in the genus Vespa , the most formidable of which are the giant hornets that attack colonies in groups, kill adult defenders, and prey on broods.

The team’s documentation revealed for the first time that, in response to attacks by V. soror, which frequently land on their way into nests, A. cerana workers foraged for and applied animal feces to their nest entrances.

‘Murder hornets’ slaughter a colony of honeybees in Japan. Photo: Getty Images

Fecal spotting intensified after colonies were exposed either to naturally occurring attacks or to chemicals that scout hornets employed to zero in on colonies for mass attacks. Spotting persisted for days despite the cessation of attacks, the study showed.

Moderate to heavy fecal spotting stamped out attempts by V. soror to penetrate nests by reducing the incidence of multiple-hornet attacks and significantly lessening the likelihood of the ferocious wasps approaching and chewing nest entrances.

These findings are the first official report of honeybees using tools to repel aggressive predators, as well as the first published evidence of insects foraging for non-plant-based solids from livestock and poultry.

The study also includes an in-depth description of the sophisticated portfolio of defenses that honeybees have developed to cope with the constant predatory threats they face, including physically shielding the colony from predators by building enclosed walls and closely guarded small entrances; synchronized body shaking or wave-like visual displays; and producing hissing or buzzing sounds in response to predators.

Another effective defense employed by honeybees involves killing hornets by overheating and suffocating individual attackers in a ball of bees.

While it remains a puzzle as to how animal dung repels hornets, the research team found that honeybees use a variety of smelly filth to repel aggressors, including human urine and soap.

“We’re not in favor of animal feces being applied as textured spots on the fronts of hives, as no one would want to consume honey from such hives,” Prof. Otis noted.

“The key is likely the odor itself, not a particular substance.”

Though much remains to be understood about this predator-prey interaction and repellency mechanism, the groundbreaking study suggests that bee farmers can apply substances with a strong, long-lasting odor, such as clove oil, around hive entrances to keep predatory hornets at bay.

A bond with buzzers in Vietnam

Prof. Otis’s enduring interest in the defensive behavior of Asian honeybees began more than a decade ago when he initiated a beekeeping development project in several rural communes in north-central Vietnam’s Ha Tinh Province.

Managed by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, faculties from several Canadian universities worked with colleagues from the Vietnam Bee Research and Development Center to devise and execute the extensive research and training project.

A research team from Canadian Professor Gard Otis’s project work during a field trip to Ba Vi District in suburban Hanoi, Vietnam in 2013 in this supplied photo.

During his time working on the project, Otis was stumped by the black spots which covered local honeybee nests. Locals seemed equally puzzled and only knew that the spots typically appeared following hornet attacks.

Only one seasoned beekeeper who had witnessed the insects’ defensive behavior first-hand was able to offer up an answer: “It’s buffalo dung.”

In 2012, Prof. Otis persuaded his former student, Heather Mattila, an associate professor of biology at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, the U.S., to join him in his research on the honeybees’ ‘feces applying’ behavior.

The duo also managed to enlist help from two Hanoi-based experts – Dr. Pham Duc Hanh from the National Institute of Animal Sciences of Vietnam and Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lien from the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources.

“It turned out the four disciplines we major in allowed us to make our research a success in 2013,” Prof. Otis said, adding the data analysis took six years.

Mattila, the study’s head, shared in an email to Tuoi Tre that both Prof. Otis and herself considered their research experience in Vietnam a highlight of their academic careers.

Each passing day during the research period was unforgettable, she stressed, adding that she hoped to one day work with an equally wonderful and diverse team.

To prove the honeybees’ unique defensive behavior, the scientists needed ‘invincible’ hives in a controlled experiment with attacked nests.

The team used a white balloon tied to a stick held by research assistants to drive the hornets away.

To make sure they always had enough feces at their disposal for the honeybees to take their pick, they built a small ‘feces shop’ with solids from poultry and cattle, Prof. Otis shared.

By the end of the day, around 140 honeybees would drop by the ‘shop’ before buzzing off with a morsel of dung in their mouth.

“The interesting thing is we were actually at a loss what to look for and observe at first. We just had to learn about the honeybees’ behavior little by little each day,” shared Phan Thanh Ngoc, a member of Prof. Otis’s research team.

Later, with Otis’s mentoring and assistance, Ngoc was able to skip earning his master’s and move directly on to earning a Ph.D. in entomology at the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S.

A buzz around beekeeping

Dr. Ngoc is not Otis’s only mentee.

Back in 1996, Prof. Otis attended a conference organized by the Asian Apiculture Association in Vietnam.

By the end of the trip, he had made a commitment to seek funding for a project to foster the development of bee farming in the Southeast Asian country.

The pundit was particularly impressed with researchers from the Vietnam Bee Research and Development Center (VBRDC), who tried to answer his thorny questions with complete honesty.

“That was when I decided to get them involved,” he said.

To prepare for his project, Prof. Otis took a trip across Vietnam to collect samples of the country’s honeybee species.

After 10 years, he managed to earn sponsorship from the Canadian International Development Agency in order to provide training in beekeeping techniques for more than 190 households in six communes in Huong Son and Vu Quang Districts in Ha Tinh between 2007 and 2012.

Exceeding the project developer’s expectations, the trainees were able to maintain bee farming businesses well before the project’s end and were even able to share techniques with bee farming newcomers.

“We knew we had to get the people working with the bees and doing things with the bees. Everything fits together in a system that’s integrated with the seasonality,” he shared in a video clip posted on the University of Guelph’s website in 2012.

“These trainees have actually put it all together into a system that they’re able to innovate.

“The beekeeping technology is extending more quickly than I would imagine.

“Within a small area, they now have essentially all the components of a complete industry.

“I think it will allow them to be sustainable with this activity far into the future.”

Huong Son and Vu Quang Districts’ products have made their way on to the country’s honey map.

A first and foremost part of the project includes providing training for lecturers at VBRDC so that they can properly teach new students.

During this training, Otis met Hanh, a VBRDC researcher, who later became his Ph.D. student and a co-author in their latest study on honeybees’ ‘feces applying’ defensive practice.

According to the professor, financing a Ph.D. student’s program spanning three or four years accounted for a big part of the project’s budget.

They need a well-trained scientist capable of raising valuable research questions and gaps, designing viable experiments, training younger generations and also fluent in English, he explained.

“With all of Vietnam’s indigenous bee species in sight, I’m like a kid in a candy store,” Prof. Otis shared, adding that there is only one species of honeybee in North America and it has lost its novelty among researchers.

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Thanh Nguyen, 35, an ethnic Vietnamese man living in Virginia, always returns home to Maryland during Tet (Lunar New Year). But this year the nurse decided to stay back and instead celebrate the festival with his parents by video call.

“My Vietnamese parents are disappointed because I did not drive home to see them, but the Covid-19 pandemic is a good reason to not travel, especially when I work in a hospital with infection risks,” he said.

He also made several video calls to relatives in Vietnam for Lunar New Year, which falls on February 12 this year.

“My mom sent me two banh chung and I bought some spring rolls. I will go to a nearby Buddhist temple to pray for a new year if it is not too crowded during the weekend.”

Nguyen is among many members of the Vietnamese diaspora in America who have celebrated the traditional holiday of their forefathers amid the raging pandemic with a lot of differences this year.

Asian Garden Mall (Phuoc Loc Tho) is a popular place to celebrate Tet among Vietnamese in Westminster, California. Photo by Shutterstock/Hung Tran.

In California, even though Governor Gavin Newsom lifted the stay-home order in late January in response to an improving situation, a move hailed by some Vietnamese ahead of their traditional holiday, many people still have their guard up and are not gathering with relatives or going to public places.

“We will not go to Vietnamese malls or supermarkets since the places are always packed” Thao Nguyen, a banker in Orange County, California, said.

Nguyen’s family canceled a party with relatives on the last day of the lunar year, which “always used to be an indispensable part of our Tet. ”

Instead, she had dinner and went to a nearby Buddhist temple without her parents, who are old and likely to be vulnerable to the coronavirus.

In December 2020, according to health officials in Santa Clara County, California, the Vietnamese and Philippine communities were more severely affected by the pandemic than other Asian-American groups in the San Francisco Bay region.

Many Tet activities and events have been canceled.

Little Saigon does not have music shows, traditional lion dancing and banh chung -making competitions like it usually does.

In San Diego, Tet Festival, presented by the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance (VAYA), is held virtually from February 12 to 14.

“We had hoped to have an in-person Tet Festival, as Tet is often the time when families gather to reconnect and usher in the new year,” Dennis Duong, president of VAYA, said in a statement.

“But with the surge in Covid-19, we knew that it was unlikely any live events would be permitted in the foreseeable future. Still, it’s important to recognize the New Year and give the community a safe option to celebrate from home.”

Virtual Tet events and reunions are becoming new normal.

Travor Ta, 19, of Orange County in California called his family in Los Angeles and his father’s parents in the southern province of Vinh Long.

“My relatives passed the phone around so I can see all of them, then I wished them good health, and they normally wish me ‘ tien vao nhu nuoc ’ (money comes like water),” he said.

In a Facebook group for the Vietnamese community in America, many people said they would call their parents and relatives instead of going home to see them.

“Going home is not on the table amid this pandemic,” Ta said.

He recalled his childhood memory when he used to skip classes on the 1st or the 2nd day of Tet for lion dance performances and receiving li xi (lucky money) from his extended family in California.

Stalls supply traditional Tet products like confectionary baskets, candied fruits, lanterns, and red calligraphy papers in Hong Kong Supermarket in Atlanta City, Georgia, U.S. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Phuong.

‘Life goes on’

While gatherings and festive activities are limited, overseas Vietnamese trying to sustain their traditions by making traditional foods and decorating their houses.

Trang Tran, 43, of Houston, Texas, spent the evening before the Lunar New Year’s Eve cooking dishes for her family and relatives.

“We call it ‘ an Tet ’, which literally means eating Tet,” she explained.

She said that banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake with mung bean and pork), thit kho hot vit (southern-style braised pork with eggs) and pickles are always served in her family during the first day of Tet .

“There is no arrowroot in Houston, so we used banana leaves to wrap our banh chung ,” she added.

Another favorite activity among Vietnamese-Americans during Tet is gambling and playing board games with their loved ones.

Since the first day of Tet is on Friday, Tran said, children in her family would spend the whole weekend playing bau cua tom ca (a betting game) and ca ngua (horse racing game).

“Of course, no gathering with our relatives because of the Covid-19.”

Many Vietnamese neighborhoods are bustling and filled with festive decorations.

In Orange County’s Little Saigon, home to thousands of Vietnamese-American businesses, Asian Garden Mall is bustling with traditional flower markets and stores selling Vietnamese foods.

In San Jose, Texas, Lion Plaza, a popular market for the local Vietnamese community, is also filled with masked shoppers.

But the pandemic has cast a long shadow.

Some businesses said the number of patrons has fallen this year.

“We thought people would stay at home after a difficult year with a lot of losses, so we keep our feet on the ground and do not have high expectations when it comes to Tet business,” Nhut Nguyen, a restaurant owner in Asian Garden Mall, said.

Young Vietnamese, busy with their work amid the urban rat race, said they do not have much time for Tet but would try to celebrate it as “much Vietnamese” as possible.

In an 11,000-member Facebook group of Vietnamese living in the U.S., people share their experiences in finding traditional dishes like banh chung and banh tet in various states.

“You can have Tet in many ways,” said Thanh Nguyen, who will go to work on Lunar New Year and have banh chung alone.

Nguyen has bought some chrysanthemums and a yellow mai tree, which, he said, would welcome the spring and bring luck.

“The most important thing about Tet is that it has always in our DNA, regardless of the pandemic and any other ordeal,” Thanh commented.

“Traditions are handed down through generations, that is how life goes on.”

When Hoang Anh was cruising around flower gardens in Hanoi’s Tay Ho District at around midnight one day, he saw two boys in warm clothes and a middle-aged man sitting around a fire and decided to approach them.

At first glance the man looked like their father. But noticing that the boys seem tired, Anh and a friend decided to walk over and say hello.

“Can we sit here and talk to you guys?” he asked, and they looked up at him with suspicion.

Sitting down next to the fire, Anh looked at the two boys and said: “It is such a chilly night. Do you guys need any help?”

Two homeless boys sitting by a fire in a park in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, on January 21, 2021. Photo courtesy of Hoang Anh.

The boys, one skinny and the other chubby, remained silent while the man abruptly stood up, said he was taking his dog for a walk, and left.

Anh tried to make friends with the children and introduced himself.

“We belong to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, which helps homeless children. I can help you guys find accommodation and a place to play football and get health checks. It is unsafe for you to be out this late at night since there are many bad people on the streets.”

He told them about some of the situations he had seen and warned them of the dangers lurking on the streets, and showed some pictures of the street children he had helped.

After seeing there were some kids they knew in the pictures and his friendly way of speaking, the boys gradually lowered their guard and opened up.

The skinny one said his identification papers had been stolen when he was sleeping in the garden a few days ago. Now he could not find a job, but still did not want to go back to his hometown. The other, who was 14 years old, said he was from the northern Bac Kan Province and his father was in prison.

Anh said: “I can help you guys find a safe place to sleep tonight. If you don’t like it, I can bring you back here.”

But they had been living on the street for long, and their survival instincts possibly kicked in, and they refused his offer immediately.

He then gave them some money to find a place to sleep and his contact information and told them to meet him at the same place the next morning.

The chubby boy turned up the next morning, and Anh took him to the foundation. He can decide to stay there with other similar children if he likes it or go and live with a foster family.

Four members of the street outreach team scouting around the capital’s My Dinh Bus Station on January 16, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Duong.

Anh, 27, is the captain of the street outreach team at the Hanoi-based charity that has been assisting children in crises since 2003.

The team goes out into the streets every night to look for destitute children under bridges and in parks, bus stations and other places.

It has seven members and a large support staff. In addition to its main task of finding homeless children, the team also helps children living at the charity’s boarding houses and organizes physical activities and health checks for them.

The team members also take street children back to their homes.

The main aim is to ensure destitute children are not dragged into committing crimes and are safe from bad influences.

Earlier that night Anh and his colleague had gone to four Internet cafes in nearby My Dinh in Nam Tu Liem District to look for children and told the owners to let them know if they come across children who need assistance.

Here they gave a jacket to a boy who had run away from home in another province.

“Many homeless children from other provinces show up around the My Dinh area, especially during summer and around Lunar New Year,” Anh says.

“They are easy prey for pedophiles and job brokers. Since they have just arrived in the capital and have a little money and tend go to Internet cafes to play games.

“We always try to reach the children before they encounter bad people.”

After three years as a member of the street outreach team, Doan Cong thinks he is doing a “meaningful” job.

One day late at night in August he and his colleague Minh Hai spotted two children sitting at a bus stop near the My Dinh bus station and a middle-aged man hovering over them.

Since the children looked tired and wore stained, tattered clothes, Cong decided they were not familiar with the city. He parked his vehicle and approached them.

He found out that the boys, aged 15 and 17, had left their hometown in Ha Giang Province and worked for half a month in Hanoi before their employer closed down due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Both had used up their wages of VND400,000 ($17.30) while searching for new jobs, but had not been lucky.

After roaming the streets for three days, they ended up at the bus station.

They looked at the man and whispered to Cong: “He told us he would give us each VND100,000 if we touch his genitals. We refused, but he was insistent and is waiting for us to change our minds.”

Cong and Hai took the boys to an Internet shop, got them food and told them to spend the night there. The next morning Cong returned, reassured that their families had promised to pick them up after he had informed them.

He gave the pair some money and his contact information in case they needed help.

The young social workers have had to confront dubious people to protect homeless children. Two months ago Anh had to fight off two pedophiles who were asking three boys to go home and sleep with them.

Minh Hai, who has been on the team for two years, shares a story from last winter. One night, on a curb behind the My Dinh bus station, he saw a boy with a backpack and a cap who looked he had little strength left. He got off his motorbike and slowly walked up to the boy.

He asked him: “You look tired. Have you had dinner?”

The boy looked scared, and his eyes kept darting around.

After he walked behind him for around two kilometers, the boy became less scared of him. Hai gave him a box of sticky rice and the boy gulped it down.

After eating he revealed that he had been lured into a debt collection gang about a month ago. He was instructed to work out to look strong and go collect debts.

He managed to escape from that gang, but was now afraid its members would catch with him and mete out punishment. He also did not know where to go or who to ask for help.

Doan Cong helps out a homeless kid under a bridge near the My Dinh Stadium, Hanoi. Photo courtesy of Blue Dragon.

On average, the street outreach team helps around 100 children each year. Many of the children have returned to their families or have been put in school. Many of them now work at restaurants or hotels, in tourism and others.

About 10 percent of Blue Dragon’s workers were themselves children rescued by the charity. Having been there before, now they help children who are in a similar situation.

Anh says: “I think my job is like that of a filter: kids we rescue have the ability to rebuild their lives, but if we do not, they are easily caught up in bad situations.”

Recently the two boys from Ha Giang called Cong to say they had returned home and work in the fields with their parents, and are waiting until they are old enough to get proper works.

The team members say there are always children being pushed out into the streets for various reasons, and there are many traps awaiting them. That is why the team has been out on the streets for the last 17 years.

Blue Dragon has helped 607 street children reunite with their families, rescued 1,000 trafficked kids and helped 5,259 children go to school or get jobs.

Dr. Nguyen Phan Thang, who is currently working at Gachon University (Korea), is one of 10 scientists receiving the 2020 Golden Globe Award.

At the age of 33, Nguyen Phan Thang’s academic fortune is 43 scientific articles, of which 28 are in the Q1 list (Group of the most prestigious scientific journals).

Graduating with a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Hanoi University of Technology, Nguyen Phan Thang won a PhD scholarship from Chung-Ang University (Korea). After six years of studying and researching, he was admitted to the position of professor intern and is working at the functional materials laboratory for energy application in the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biology of Gachon University.

“It’s about what you learn rather than what score you get”

Thang said his passion for science was nurtured in a very simple way. “When I was a child, I never thought my dream was to become a professor. When I was little, after I was able to read and do math, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. Growing up a little, I followed my dad to fix household appliances: install wires, fix lights, repair pumps… At that time, I was always curious about the way machines operate. Many times, I broke the alarm clocks before I fixed my first,” he told VietNamNet.

Speaking about his high school achievements, he said: “I did not take any specialized classes for gifted students, but studied in the French class at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi).”

He always put high importance on what he could learn rather than what score he could get, so he didn’t have many outstanding achievements. With 29 points for the university entrance exam (3 subjects), he got admitted into the prestigious Hanoi University of Technology and started his research in the 4th year.

Having finished his master’s degree, having not yet figured out the path he wanted to take – in the direction of engineering, business or research – he thought he should switch to other jobs like his friends.

After asking for advice and encouragement from the teacher who led him at the Hanoi University of Technology, he applied, interviewed and passed to receive a doctorate scholarship for Chung-Ang University.

Doing science takes persistence

“Vietnamese scientists, no matter where they are working, contribute to bring the name of Vietnamese intellectuals to the world level.”

Currently, his main research at Gachon University is to learn about nanomaterials: fabrication methods, characterization analysis, structure and application to electrical, optical, and catalytic applications.

He is directing his research materials to energy storage batteries using Li, Na, and Ca metal ions. “The problem with storage batteries today is the capacity and durability of the battery, as well as how to make high quality batteries but still keeping cost reasonable.”

The areas he has researched have started to thrive in Vietnam. He said that with the capability of technology corporations, the demand for research and development of technology is huge. Vietnam is following the momentum of world development and will catch up in the foreseeable future.

He also plans to return to Vietnam in the near future to continue to carry out research at home, contribute to domestic science and develop more modern science applications.

He always thinks that published scientific work reflects one’s dedication, contribution and the value of research for basic science or practical application value.

When asked about having a respectable number of scientific papers, he said: “Partly because I have an open mindset, and always want to learn interdisciplinary studies, so besides the main research, I often participate in other studies from the network inside and outside the school.”

Like all other scientists, to get the results today, he failed many times. “During my time as a graduate student, there were days when I worked 16 hours to solve the difficulties of the experiment, the deadlock, or studies that I wanted to repeat many times to understand better.”

After each failure, he learned many lessons. Science needs a vast sea of knowledge and experience, he said, and there may be setbacks that he will still have to face. But with accumulated experience, the scientist can limit and easily overcome obstacles.

According to Thang, the qualities that scientists need, in addition to grasping background knowledge, are hard work, perseverance and passion for the job.

“Young people who have chosen the path of scientific research should firmly believe in themselves, work hard on their skills and knowledge. But the most important thing is to always keep the flame of passion in your heart. On the scientific path, there are times when things are favorable, sometimes difficult, as long as you have the courage, awareness and confidence, you will achieve great and practical achievements for humans and the earth. country.”

The love of a scientist is logic and creativity

Thang and his colleagues

Unlike what many people think, science work for Thang is not a ‘dry’ job. “The farmer loves the fields, the crops and the harvest. The artist loves the lyrics, melody and entertainment for life. So do scientists, they love logic, creativity and real value in life. Therefore, each job has its own characteristics, it is dry for outsiders but it is love for people in the profession. I feel very happy every day to learn, do research, create and think about their value in the future.”

“The happiness of a scientist is to create scientific products that are valuable for life, recognized by society, cared for and supported by the society.”

To balance work and life, he often does sports activities such as table tennis, mountain climbing, or picnics, and gathering with family and friends. “When outdoor activities are not allowed, I can sit and sing, or sip a cup of hot tea. All these activities make me slow down to enjoy life, continue to motivate me to work hard.”

When asked what he would do if he didn’t do science, he replied: “I can be a farmer – grow crops and vegetables. Any job that creates value in life, I find it very meaningful and do not hesitate to try myself.”

Dr. Nguyen Phan Thang (born 1987) Assistant Professor, Gachon University, Korea Outstanding achievements: – 43 scientific articles have been published in international journals, of which 28 articles are in Q1 list (14 articles are main authors), 11 articles on Q2 list (6 articles are main authors), and 04 articles items listed in Q3 (1 article is the main author). – Commendation from the Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea: For outstanding achievements in organizing the Conference of Vietnamese Young Scientists in South Korea, ACVYS 2016, 2017 – General Poster Award, 4th International Conference on Electrical Materials and Nanotechnology for Green Environment (ENGE 2016), Jeju, South Korea. Community activities: – Join movements of the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Korea. – Participate in organization work, be a key member of the 2016 organizing board and participate in criticism task, be the chairman of the 2017 chemistry seminar at the ACVYS Conference of Vietnamese Young Scientists in Korea. – Participate in reviewing for a number of prestigious magazines: Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Solar Energy, Molecular Liquids – Win the Golden Globe Award 2020

Nguyen Thao