AI listens to bee buzzes to monitor activity without lethal traps
Populations of many pollinators, including bumblebees, have been crashing over the last few decades, thanks to the widespread use of chemical pesticides, loss of habitat and the acceleration of climate change. But it can be hard to know just how bad the problem is, or whether conservation strategies are helping, without relying on lethal traps—which can kill tens of thousands of bees in order to…
Populations of pollinators, such as bumblebees, have been declining in recent decades due to factors like pesticide use, habitat loss, and climate change. Traditional methods for monitoring bee populations involve lethal traps, which can harm non-target species and require extensive processing. These methods are also difficult to implement in hard-to-reach areas.
Researchers have now developed AI models that can monitor bee activity using passive acoustic monitoring. These models were trained on 594 audio recordings from 43 sites across the northeastern U.S. and achieved high accuracy in identifying bees, with 93-97% precision. The AI models provide a nonlethal and complementary tool for monitoring bee activity, particularly in challenging environments.
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