If you’re a sweet on honey bees and want to share that love with your fellow drivers, then a new license plate celebrating Oregon’s pollinators is just for you. We share the buzz on its designer.
Marek Stanton was just 15 when he designed the plate, which got 3,000 pre-orders in just two weeks. It shows the managed honey bee, and the wild yellow-faced bumble bee, amidst a field of red clover.
A high schooler in Estacada, Marek says he became interested in bees during the pandemic. He’s also the youngest member of Oregon State University’s Master Melittologist Program (melittology is the study of bees.) His mother Kalika attended all the required courses because he’s a minor.
Marek Stanton with the "Pollinator Paradise" license plate he designed.
Courtesy of Ellen Silva/OSU
And of course, she’s delighted that her son has designed a license plate that will be seen on many vehicles across Oregon later this year.
“It was cool because as he’s getting his license, he’s also has his own license plate to have on a car he can actually drive,” she told KLCC. “He was only 14 when it started, and so it was funny that he could design a license plate but not even have a permit.”
Marek said one thing he wants Oregonians to do for the state’s estimated 800 species of bees, is not to harm them.
“Because a lot of people, their first inclination is ‘It’s a bee, they sting, kill it.’ I’d rather people make more habitat for bees.”
The Pollinator Paradise License Plate is available starting in November. For each one sold, $35 benefit OSU’s bee research programs.