The cameras so small they can fit on the back of a bee

SCIENTISTS have developed backpacks and cameras that are so small they can be placed on bees.

The tiny devices – which will be powered by the bees’ own electrical energy – will film how the insects collect nectar.

Paul Cross, senior environment lecturer at Bangor University, said: ‘Bee populations, our vital crop and fruit pollinators, are in serious decline; their survival faces challenges on several fronts.’

Dr Cristiano Palego, a microsystems expert at the university, added: ‘Existing bee-monitoring devices face limits due to their weight, range, and how long their power source lasts. These are the problems that we’ve set out to resolve using cuttingedge micro-technology.

‘We have proven our ability to harvest the bee’s electrical energy to enable us to do away with the need for a battery and our end product will weigh only a third of the bee’s body weight, or less than a raindrop. This solves the weight and battery longevity problems.

‘Our next step is to develop a mobile receiver to track and follow the bee’s transmitted signal as it forages.’