[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_-kTcRwkqPhQLsqEvdSSyU2XZ3CV5VEleXoE3_xZi2cg.css?delta=0\u0026language=cs\u0026theme=hm_theme\u0026include=eJxLzi9K1U8pKi1IzNErSa0oSSxKTdQtSi3OrEoFAJQ3Cqw"}]},{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/cs\/article\/modal\/10876\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea resize-vertical ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EBuzzing insights: tracking bees with robotic flowers and hive sensors \u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThink of wildlife tracking and what probably comes to mind are documentaries following the majestic movements of elephants through the savannah, the graceful migrations of sea turtles in the deep blue and the prowling of big cats in dense jungles.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYet, in the grand tapestry of nature, one creature that\u2019s vital to the ecosystem but less in the spotlight can be found gently toiling away: the humble bee. Researchers are keeping a watchful eye on these buzzing wonders in a unique effort to understand their behaviour and ensure their survival.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBig buzz\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBees pollinate 80% of all flowering plants, including more than 130 types of fruits and vegetables. Unsung heroes of the natural world, bees and other pollinators are responsible for up to\u0026nbsp;\u20ac\u200e550 billion a year in global food production.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We need to understand better how bees move and pollinate plants,\u2019 said Dr Mathieu Lihoreau, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Toulouse.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECut to a farm outside Toulouse, the southern French city better known as the location of bigger winged objects: Airbus planes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut this is no ordinary farm. It\u2019s an experimental site with, for example, no real flowers. Bumblebees and honeybees will be released into the fields \u2013 spread over 25 hectares \u2013 and tracked while flying to robotic flowers to taste a sugary reward.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment is part of a research project that received EU funding to improve understanding of how bees forage and interact. Lihoreau leads the project, which is called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101002644\u0022\u003EBEE-MOVE\u003C\/a\u003E and runs for five years until the end of September 2026.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe will trace dozens of bees simultaneously with a radar as they navigate around hundreds of robo-flowers set out in the fields. Knowing why bees buzz off in a certain direction can help improve crop pollination, conserve wild bee populations and save some rare plant species.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECaptivating creatures\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile Lihoreau has always been fascinated by animal behaviour, as a student he pictured himself observing whales in the Pacific Ocean or primates in African jungles. But then as a young scientist he became captivated by much smaller creatures after joining a laboratory that studied ants.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EBees are in danger because they forage on plants that we treat with pesticides.\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr Mathieu Lihoreau, BEE-MOVE\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis attention now is on how bees navigate and make decisions as they seek nectar and pollen, orienting themselves using the sun, landscape features and even other bees. Because they collect food for themselves and harvest nectar and pollen for their colony, bees memorise the landscape.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2023\/apr\/02\/bees-intelligence-minds-pollination\u0022\u003EResearch\u003C\/a\u003E suggests bees can even have emotions and doubts, detect electric fields and count.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I\u2019m fascinated by them,\u2019 Lihoreau said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn total, there are around 20 000 bee species and wild bees are critical for a healthy ecosystem. They\u2019re vital assistants in the reproduction of plants by carrying pollen from one flower to another.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPreviously, researchers used large and expensive harmonic radars to track an antenna placed on the back of an individual bee. This allowed scientists to follow the bee as it weaved its way around a meadow, searching for flowers before returning home.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut following just one bee gives merely a sliver of insight into what\u2019s going on. Honeybees live in hives of thousands of worker bees and bumblebees reside in nests with dozens or hundreds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHow bees act as a team or make efficient foraging decisions in the company of other pollinators are open questions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERadar tracking\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe BEE-MOVE radar will do its tracking without any of the bees having antennas. It uses the same technology as reversing sensors on cars, sending out energy waves to detect objects by bouncing off them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELihoreau said that, to his knowledge, this is the first time such a radar has been used in ecology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I want to show bees do not move randomly in the environment and to understand the rules that guide their sophisticated foraging,\u2019 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe radar will track honeybees and bumblebees separately as they fly to the robo-flowers and then together. The planned robotic plants are small metal containers that recognise individual tagged bees as they alight on a platform and allow them in to sup sugar water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEventually, Lihoreau wants to investigate the effect on bee behaviour of adding contaminants like pesticides to the sugar water.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPesticide threats\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPesticides, including insecticides, used against pests like aphids are often neurotoxins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Bees are in danger because they forage on plants that we treat with pesticides and then they feed on neurotoxins,\u2019 said Lihoreau.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EYou get metrics that show you how productive the beehives are for pollination.\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr Joao Encarnacao, iPollinate \u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe European Food Safety Authority\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.efsa.europa.eu\/en\/press\/news\/180228\u0022\u003Esaid in\u0026nbsp;2018\u003C\/a\u003E that neonicotinoid insecticides pose a threat to wild bees and honeybees. Neonicotinoids are suspected of scrambling the bees\u2019 navigation systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEverything that bees learn when navigating a meadow, garden or cityscape is retained. This may ultimately leave them particularly vulnerable to neurotoxins.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Because they have this tiny brain, probably every neuron is important,\u2019 said Lihoreau.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn agriculture, healthy bees are crucial for good yields in crops such as strawberries and almonds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Orchards hire beekeepers to bring in hives, but they need numerous healthy bees,\u2019 said Dr Joao Encarnacao, a sensor expert at Irideon, a technology company in the Spanish city of Barcelona.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHive sensors\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf a hive is unhealthy, it can\u2019t pollinate enough flowers and the fruit crop is reduced. But a farmer will become aware of a shortfall in pollinators only when it\u2019s too late.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEncarnacao leads an EU-funded project \u2013\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/958827\u0022\u003EiPollinate\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 positioning sensors on hives to report real-time foraging of honeybees. The tracking technique relies on artificial intelligence and multiple coin-sized sensors placed on the hive.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe information can be used by an orchard owner to spotlight the healthiest bee colonies or to learn the best locations for hives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You get metrics that show you how productive the beehives are for pollination,\u2019 said Encarnacao. \u2018So far, nobody has enough information to know how to optimise things like the placement or the orientation of beehives, yet this might be the difference between having good pollination and bad.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project, which is due to end in December 2023 after three years, aims by then to have built a prototype of the sensor system. The plan is for the service to be available to commercial partners of the project in 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sensors have been tested in onion seeds in France and Israel, in berry fruit in countries including France, Spain and Portugal and in almonds and sunflowers in the US state of California.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECalifornian almonds are a key target for iPollinate because about 2.5 million beehives are routinely set out across more than 500 000 hectares of almond groves \u2013 a big commercial opportunity for anybody who can improve pollination and, by extension, the harvest.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth iPollinate and BEE-MOVE highlight the crucial links between bees and the ecosystem as a whole, reinforcing the need to tackle biodiversity loss driven by human influences including pollution.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Bees are on the frontline of an ecological crisis,\u2019 said Lihoreau of BEE-MOVE.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU via the European Research Council (ERC). The views of the interviewees don\u2019t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. 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