Researchers Monitor Bees By 'Dressing' Them in High Visibility Retro-Reflective Vests
Published:30 Dec.2020 Source:British Ecological Society
A team of researchers from the University of Sheffield and The Bumblebee Conservation Trust have been trialling new, low-cost ways to monitor bee species in the UK, by dressing bees in high visibility retroreflective vests. This novel research will be presented at the British Ecological Society's virtual Festival of Ecology.
Researchers attached retroreflective tags to seven species of wild bee and to a commercially bred UK bumblebee subspecies. Then, the foraging behaviour and 3D flight path of various bees was monitored using the web interface of a custom-built, real time tracking system.