According to the researchers, it can take hours or days to get a Covid-19 test result, but the response from the bees is immediate. The method is cheap too, potentially making it useful for countries where testing is in short supply, says a recent report published in ..
Several global studies, still in their early stages, have found that dogs, with their strong sense of smell, can detect breast and lung cancer. They can also detect high and low blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, as well as find out if a person has Parkinson’s. According to the research, which is in the early stages at the University of Manchester, Parkinson’s disease could have a discernible odor, which could be detected. In fact, the American Urological Association and many other institutes are conducting more studies to see if German Shepherds can detect chemicals linked to prostate cancer in urine samples.
Not only dogs, even bees can detect volatiles and odors, with parts per billion sensitivity, by spreading their tongues. Recent research by startup InsectSense and Wageningen Bioveterinary Research in the Netherlands suggests that bees can be trained to smell and detect coronavirus.
According to the researchers, it can take hours or days to get a Covid-19 test result, but the response from the bees is immediate. The method is cheap too, potentially making it useful for countries where testing is in short supply, says a recent report published in ..
Experts say that bees have a keen and acute sense, thanks to their highly social organization. They depend on their antennae to detect volatiles and odors, but also on their eyes to detect the intensity, color, and direction of light. It is these two senses combined that help bees travel far, a few miles per trip in search of honey. They are also quite expressive since communication is key between eusocial organisms. Through actions, they physically communicate with their hive mates the distance, the quantity (the bees can do a basic count and understand the concept of zero) and the quality of the honey for a collective foraging trip.
“Bees are primarily insects that feed on pollen and nectar, and are an important part of the pollinating insect community. While we primarily identify with bees, social bees that live in colonies, these are only a small percentage of the more than 650 species of bees found in India. Most bees are solitary and produce ‘cells’ in various substrates: in the ground, in tree burrows, stick holes, as well as in rocky crevices and nooks and crannies of our homes, and they are all important pollinators as well. Like the tiger, bees are “flagship” species. Their presence indicates an environment conducive to the existence of other pollinators, and their absence indicates that something is wrong. Urbanization and the resulting pollution have reduced the life expectancy of individual bees, as well as their vitality. Non-host specific pesticides, such as neonicotinoids, kill bees along with other insects that we consider pests. Rising temperatures also reduce the vitality of the bees, reducing their ability to ‘work’ in high temperatures, as well as their young, ”shares Aniruddha Dhamorikar, Species Coordinator, Central India Landscape, WWF India.
Bees have been used as a model for insects to detect volatiles of interest, aptly called ‘tracker bees’. They are trained by ‘classical conditioning’, much like how dogs are trained, except that bees can only be trained to detect a particular odor / volatile.
“The first experiments on the use of bees to detect narcotics such as heroin have shown positive results. Bees have also been part of a study to detect other diseases such as tuberculosis, where the volatiles produced by infectious bacteria are detected by them. Similarly, recent study has shown that bees react to SARS-CoV-9. The scientists trained 150 bees to react to the odor associated with SARA-CoV-9, which, if detected, causes the bees to extend their tongues. The results of the experiment have been summarized by the university, but the detailed study has yet to be published. While previous studies show that bees can be trained in a short period of time, the technique, technology and equipment necessary to train it and implement it in practice can be an impediment to the applications of this finding ”, adds Dhamorikar.
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