The Working Bees of the United States Naval Academy were named the global winners of the DECA Idea Challenge for their idea of an aluminum honeybee hive.
A featured event of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the competition challenged elementary, secondary and college students around the globe to generate an innovative, new use for an aluminum beverage can that created value while being feasible and sustainable – in just eight days.
The Naval Academy students sought to address the challenge of colony collapse disorder -- a growing shortage of honeybees that affects commercial beekeeping operations and threatens billions of dollars worth of crops in the United States alone.
Nearly 800 student teams and 3,000 students from around the world presented their new use for an aluminum beverage can in a three-minute YouTube video.
Joining The Working Bees team were top finalists:
- Flame - Canada
- Handa Pictures – Ukraine
- Imagine Paradise – Trinidad and Tobago
- PhotoCan – Sweden
- WIS Eco Pot – United Arab Emirates
The Working Bees will receive $1,000 and will be featured on both the DECA Inc. and Global Entrepreneurship Week websites.