Scientists are puzzled about bee populations across the globe that are rapidly declining. Experts point out that this has potential impact on the global food supply. This problem has prompted the launch of the Global Initiative for Honey Bee Health on Tuesday, which drew together scientists from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and the UK. The scientific consortium is led by the Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
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. For this reason, the initiative - in partnership with companies such as Intel and Hitachi Chemicals - will attach super compact Edison single-board radio frequency identification (RFID) micro-sensors, or "backpacks," on a swarm of bees. The sensors are no bigger than grains of rice and will serve as e-tags that will track the bees' movements in and out of the beehive, transmitting information back to the researchers, The Australian reported.
"Due to the urgent and global nature of this issue, we saw the need to develop a methodology that any scientist could easily deploy. This way we can share and compare data from around the world to collaboratively investigate bee health. This united effort is a fantastic example of the Internet of Things. The Intel Edison Breakout Board kit is the perfect platform for this type of research. It's incredibly reliable, small in size, flexible with programming, and has low power consumption. It's also easily customisable which means that if a scientist has a sensor they would like to add, they can virtually plug in and play," de Souza said in a Bit Tech report.
The task of attaching the "backpacks" to thousands of bees is not an easy task, as it requires holding down each bee and attaching the 2.2-mm device with super glue, The Sydney Morning Herald learned. Scientists, however, are determined to pursue the initiative, which is expected to run for at least two years.
Bees are responsible for pollinating at least a third of the food that humans eat. Their deaths has already caused disturbances in countries such as China where pollination is beginning to be undertaken by hand.
