Introduction About Us Sensing Our bees Applications Technology News Photos Contacts FAQ Rothamsted

Inscentinel Ltd.
Rothamsted Research
Harpenden, Hertfordshire
AL5 2JQ, UK
Tel:  +44 (0) 1582 763133 (x 2713)
inscentinel@bbsrc.ac.uk

All information displayed in these
pages is confidential and should not
be used or duplicated without the
express permission of Inscentinel.
© Inscentinel 2002-2007

Tapping Into The Natural Sensing And Learning Ability Of The Honeybee

In nature honeybees show a remarkable, sensitive ability to locate flowers, nectar and pollen. Worker honeybees are foragers and can use a variety of scents and smells, present in a complex background of odours, as olfactory cues to help them locate food sources.

Odour recognition is also integral to many aspects of the bees' life including communication and reproduction by the queen. Throughout its life a worker honeybee is constantly adapting, modifying and learning associations between odours and its environment.

Individual sensors densely cover each of the bees two antennae. The sensors are connected to nerve cells which are integrated in the olfactory lobe of the insects head. Odour recognition is by a combination of specific molecular binding and advanced signal processing.

Insect olfaction and the bees' capabilities represent an effective, sensitive ready-made sensing system that can be tapped into using innovative technology and protocols. Inscentinel uses the honeybees as sensitive, vapour detecting micromachines

A honeybee (Apis mellifera) drinking nectar from a flower. In nature bees learn a whole range of stimuli to guide them to food sources and then return with it to the hive.