A Map For Bees
One student has taken to the skies in an attempt to help save the bee population.
Mihail Garbuzov, from the University of Sussex, has been flying above Brighton in an aim to draw a map of the city’s fields and gardens. He is hoping to form a picture of the plants and flowers in the area that attract bees.
Mihail, from the university’s Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI), has been taking trips from Shoreham Airport and taking pictures of yellow rape and blue linseed. He is hoping to find out which plants are most important for honeybees and how far the bees will travel for nectar.
As part of his work, special observation hives have been installed at the LASI and at Brighton’s Dorothy Stringer School. The bees can be filmed when they re-enter the hives, and the dances they perform can be analysed. The dances communicate to other bees where a good source of nectar and pollen can be found, and researchers are hoping they can decode these to see if the bees have been foraging on rape or linseed.
Mihail said: “Dorothy Stringer pupils have been keen to help with the project and to have the opportunity to learn about and observe honey bees.”
The project is part of the Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Wellbeing, which aims to investigate why the bee population is in decline.
It is hoped the research will also provide information to allow honeybees to be kept in allotments, providing urban beekeepers places to keep hives and at the same time providing pollination.