Flower-spotting drones can save bees from extinction

DRONES should be used to help save bees from extinction by tracking the availability of flowers, scientists have said.

Researchers at the University of Exeter said the “eyes in the sky” can provide key information to protect threatened pollinators.

Their study examines new ways of using state of the art technology to track the availability of flowers.

They say it could be combined with behavioural studies to see the world through the eyes of insects.

The flowers available to insects vary from day to day and place to place, and human activity is changing landscapes in ways that affect all pollinators.

Researchers hope the new approach can help scientists to understand the changes, leading to better conservation. Dunia Gonzales, lead author of the research, said: “Recent advances in drone and satellite technology have created new opportunities.

“Drones can now give us fine details of a landscape – on the scale of individual flowers – and combining this with satellite imagery, we can learn about the food available to pollinators across a large area.

“Along with behavioural studies of insects, this will help us understand the threats they face and how to design conservation programmes.

“With some pollinator species in decline, including many wild bees, we urgently need this understanding to protect not just pollinators in general but also the great diversity of species that each play vital roles in complex ecosystems.”

The findings were published in the