Two scientists from the UK and the US have been jointly awarded £640,000 to build tiny robots that would stimulate the buzzing of bees.
It is hoped that understanding the buzz and its creation could improve agriculture and help understand the evolution of different types of bees and flowers. Thousands of plants, including tomatoes, potatoes, and blueberries, depend on the vibration from bees to elicit full pollen release.
Scientists awarded
Evolutionary biologist Dr. Mario Vallejo-Marin, of the University of Sterling will work with electrical engineer Dr. Noah Jafferis of the University of Massachusetts Lowell to create these tiny robots.
Dr. Vallejo-Marin, associate professor in Biological and Environmental Sciences, commented: “There are around 20,000 species in the world, yet we know little about the function of most bee species, as we usually only think about honey bees and bumblebees.
“Bumblebees can buzz pollinate, but honeybees cannot, and we don’t know much about thousands of other bees. A bee’s buzz shakes the pollen out of the flower but, until now, the only way to recreate that process has been with a mechanical shaker weighing 2-3kg. Our project transforms heavy shakers into tiny robots that resemble a bee buzzing a flower more closely. This will help us study how the bee’s characteristics affect the buzz and what types of vibrations are most effective for pollination. They will allow us to control the vibrations – their pitch, force, and timing – and simulate bees’ interactions with flowers to understand how the characteristics of the bee and the buzzes affect pollination.”
Dr. Vallejo-Marin
“These microrobots are the size of your fingernail and weigh a quarter of a honeybee, said Dr. Vallejo-Marin.
Bees are essential for the growth of many plants, including food crops.
It has become clear that honey may not be the most important reason to protect bees in recent years. This is because bees play a crucial role in pollination, where they use the hairs on their bodies to carry large grains of pollen between plants.
Around 75% of crops produce better yields if animals help them pollinate. Of all animals, bees are the most dominant pollinators of wild and crop plants. They visit over 90% of the world’s top 107 crops. In other words, bees are essential for the growth of many plants, including food crops. Bees are brilliant, and people have applied knowledge of their mannerisms and social interactions when creating human initiatives.
For example, researchers have suggested that studying the actions of bees could help experts develop emergency plans to evacuate people from an overcrowded environment. Observing honeybee dances can also help scientists understand where changes occur in the environment. Bees have cultural and environmental importance as pollinators and producers of honey and medicinal products. The pollen movement between plants is necessary for plants to fertilize and reproduce.
Both farmed and wild bees control the growth and quality of vegetation- when they thrive, so do crops. Bees are vital when it comes to food security. However, the welfare and number of bees worldwide are in decline, and it is essential to produce their substitutes to ensure the planet is safe.
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