Oz abuzz over tiny bee sensors

The CSIRO – working together with US technology firm Intel and Japanese conglomerate Hitachi – is now offering free access to the sensor technology and data analytics to identify global patterns.

Honey bees are vital to both local ecosystems and the economy.

Although there is still no concrete position as to why bees are dying out, the emerging consensus is that it is a result of a whole host of stresses, Paulo de Souza, chief executive science leader at CSIRO, told Mashable. What makes the sensor different from a regular backpack is that it will remain on the back of the bee for the rest of its life.

The combination of the tags and an RFID reader hooked up to the computer also allows researchers to track the movement of bees that are part of a colony.

Another possible reason is the Varroa destructor, a predatory mite that has already killed several bee colonies in the last 10 years. “It tells us about their changes in behavior-how often and how long they’re foraging, whether they’re feeding, whether they’re collecting pollen, what they’re doing in the hives”.

Each sensor will record a bee’s exposure to pesticides, air pollution and water contamination, as well as taking note of the insect’s diet and the weather. However, Australian honey bees have not fallen victim to the mite.

Australian scientists revealed on Tuesday they are using micro-sensors attached to honey bees as part of a global push to understand the key factors driving a worldwide population decline of the pollinators. The project, which involves scientists from all around the world, including the United Kingdom, Mexico; Brazil, New Zealand and Australia, aims to find out why and to come up with a solution on how to tackle the problem.

Macquarie University may have found an explanation for the colony collapse disorder affecting honey bee hives in North America and Europe, but research into the cause is still continuing. Data gathered by the Global Initiative for Honey bee Health (GIHH) will provide valuable information to scientists, beekeepers, primary producers, industry groups and governments to achieve impacts around improved biosecurity measures, crop pollination, bee health, food production and better strategies on sustainable farming practices, food security and impacts on ecosystems in general. “The cost of honey bee pollination services would rise, and those increased costs would ultimately be passed on to consumers through higher food costs”. That’s why most of the bees for the research are from the continent. Data collection receptors are built into hives.