How Robot Bees and AI Can Ease the Pollination Crisis

In the last two decades, honey bee populations across the USA and Europe have drastically declined. Some of the main causes linked to the shrinking bee population include the harmful use of pesticides and exposure to destructive parasites. On average, U.S. beekeepers have experienced a 30% annual loss in their colony sizes. What stings even more is the fact that some wild bee species are now classified as threatened or endangered.

The decline in the population of bees should not only worry the agricultural industry, but every food consumer. The pollinator crisis really tells us how important some insects we do not interact with much are after-all important to human wellbeing. Fortunately, there are interesting tech projects looking at Robot Bees to quietly address this problem. 

Bio-mimicking bees

Bloom X has for starters focused on two crops, the blueberries and the avocado trees. Using its Pioneer product called the ‘Robee’, BloomX can pollinate crop flowers even when bee populations are low. 

The Robee product by BloomX

The Robee has a straightforward way of working, which just needs it to vibrate and brush its surface over plants.The vibration forces the blueberry plants to release pollen, just like bumble bees do. In the case of bumble bees, its the wing vibration that spurs the flowers to effectively release pollen.

The Crossbee product by BloomX

A younger brother to the “Robee” is the “Crosbee.” The Crosbee is a handheld product for manually collecting pollen to transfer onto other avocado trees. The equipment is already in successful use in South Africa, the USA, Spain, and Israel. According to BloomX, the Crosbee can boost avocado and other fruit yields by 30%.

To keep in step with advancements in communication tech, both Robee and Crossbee make use of advanced AI features.The robots operate AI software that can be monitored via a mobile app. Combined with GPS tools, It becomes easier for farm technicians to make live updates on already-pollinated farm sections.

Its not about replacing bees

Through the years, one major huddle in artificial pollination has been in the storage of pollen.This technology has made major strides because it can store pollen for several years. BloomX has tech that can collect, store and reapply pollen when needed. 

Furthermore,the best quality pollen can be saved for the optimal flower fertility window. The improved precision makes it possible to replicate the technology on apples, almonds and pistachios with impressive results.

Some cases against artificial pollination 

Like all tech ideas, artificial pollination doesn’t sit well with everyone. There are some valid opinions as to why artificial pollination may not be good for bees, or for everyone in general. For one, it is highly likely that replacing bees with purely man-made activities will lead to an imbalanced crop monoculture. Bees do not thrive well when forced to forage only around a select few crops.

Bees have naturally thrived where they can freely forage on whatever they find in their surroundings. Many argue that bees should be allowed to explore and harvest without being restricted to our own menu preferences.

Save the queen bee – About the RoboRoyale project 

As more ideas remain welcome, there are researchers who are more focused on protecting bee colonies instead of artificial pollination. The RoboRoyale project builds micro-robots that mix biological and machine-learning tech to keep a hive healthy. The project operates on the premise that colonies will be healthier if their queen bees are safe and healthy within the hives. Unbelievably, the devices even perform specialty duties like feeding, grooming, and shifting the queen bee to different parts of the hive.

How bees self-organize for their own wellbeing. 

For perspective, a typical hive has a colony of 30,000 bees. The majority of these bees are the flower pollinators because they do all the rounds searching for flowers to create honey. The bees need the honey to keep the hive well fed and running for the colonies overall wellbeing.

The remainder of the bee population inside the hive is made up the worker bees. The worker bees have specialized hive duties, yet are largely divided into the queen’s court and guard bees.While the pollinator bees are on far-off excursions to source nectar, guard bees stick around and guard the hive from intruders.

A queen bee has the very special role of laying eggs and keeping the hive united and healthy. That is why RoboRoyale and other research projects focus their attention on the queen bee. A queen bee has a longer lifespan (up to five years) and may lay around 200,000 eggs each year.

The EU-funded project is spearheaded by a team of researchers from Durham University. Its biggest breakthrough has been a bee-sized, six-legged device that uses cameras to monitor the queen bee.

The use of AI in monitoring behavioral patterns in bee hives

Artificial intelligence contributes a lot when studying the behavioral patterns in bees. Some important behaviors that come in handy in bee research include:

1. Communication signaling between bees. 
2. Foraging behavior. 
3. Stress response to changes outside the hive environment. 
4. Behavioral change as a result of age. 

For example, seasonal weather patterns may result in fewer flowers near the hive. Other factors such as changes in lawn mowing, harsh pesticide use, also lead to nutritional stress. Bees are known to encounter nutritional stress and may leave the colony; abandoning the queen bee in the process.Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) happens when the majority of the hive population suddenly abandon the hive.  

AI proves invaluable in creating models that analyze individual issues likely to cause CCD in a colony. Farmers can then develop responsive strategies to address these exposures and prevent colony loss.