Spying on the secret lives of bees

Honeybees are tremendously important to humans, mainly as pollinators of the plants we eat. But they also rely on humans for survival: pests such as the Varroa mite are fatal to bees, and without human control of these mites, honeybees die.

Despite the importance of honeybees to Aotearoa, because they live inside a dark hive, it has never been possible to measure their behaviour without opening the hive and breaking the colony apart. As a result, assessing honeybee health has always been difficult.

In this talk, Dr Guy Warman will explain how he and his colleagues have developed new ways to understand the behaviour and communication of bees within their hives without disrupting them – by measuring the patterns of electrostatic fields they produce inside the hive. By translating this “electric language”, we can begin to understand the signatures and rhythms of a healthy colony, and the early signs of changes in honeybee health.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen, 7 Sale Street, Auckland, New Zealand