New study out of Penn State tracking bees using tiny QR codes
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Researchers at Penn State University are using tiny QR codes to study some of their smallest subjects yet.
The researchers say they are hoping to learn just how much time bees spend outside of their hives foraging for food.
The researchers say the QR codes are smaller than your pinky fingernail. They are harmlessly attached to the backs of younger bees with glue. The researchers say it's because the younger bees don't have the capacity to sting just yet.
The QR codes track each time the bees enter and exit the hie. The QR codes are registered when the bees move through a customized entrance equipped with a camera sensor.
Over the spring and the summer, the researchers say they tagged over 32,000 bees at hives in rural Pennsylvania as well as rural New York.
So far, the researchers say they've learned that most trips taken by bees are short, often less than a couple of minutes, while other bees have taken trips out of the hive for up to two hours.
The researchers are also studying the bees' "waggle dance," which is a series of movements used by bees to communicate where food can be found.
Penn State is now collaborating with researchers at Virginia Tech to try and match the foraging times to decoded bee dances.
You can check out the study in full on Penn State's website at this link.
