PHOTOS: STEVEN DAVID JOHNSON GETTY, JOSEPH WOODGATE, TOM CHURCHYARD/RSPB IMAGES, ISTOCK
The radio and
transponder setup is
lighter than a traditional
radio transmitter systemWhen it comes to finding their way
around, bees are up there with the
best of them. To put the insects’
skills to the test, researchers at
Queen Mary University devised
a study based on the Travelling
Salesman Problem, a mathemati-
cal puzzle concerned with finding
the shortest possible route around
a number of different destinations.
They set up a series of feeding
stations around a hive, then used
a radar and transponder system
to track the bees’ movements.
“We set up two radar dishes:
one that emits a signal and a
second that collects it. A tiny
transponder on the back of the
bee bounces that signal back at a
different frequency so that we can
locate its position,” explains study
lead Lars Chittka.
Once the bees had snacked
on all of the food sources, they
gradually began to develop faster
routes between them. After a few
dozen trips, they found the opti-
mal route without fail. ßMATT SWAINE IS A FREELANCE
WRITER WHO PREVIOUSLY
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