Entomologist Mark Greco and his colleagues at the Swiss Bee Research Centre in Bern, Switzerland and scientists at the University of Bath led by Professor Cathryn Mitchell and Dr Manuchehr Soleimani are pioneering a new way of viewing the inside of a beehive.

The technique is called Diagnostic Radioentomology (DR) which scans the hive taking a series of 3D images. These images create a live picture of whats going on inside the hive, meaning we can gain a greater insight into what the bees are doing behind closed doors. These live images produced by X-ray computerised tomography can also be used to track individual bees within the hive, thus allowing the tracking of the Queen, again giving a greater insight into her movements.

Mr Greco told the BBC when interviewed, “the approach is non-invasive and does not modify their normal behaviour…..We can accurately assess the number of bees and where they are at the time of scanning.”

The researchers are working to improve this new technique which will hopefully result in clearer 3D images and more accurately measure the bee population, volumes of pollen, wax and honey within a hive.

The University of Bath scientists are also working on new computer models which will hopefully allow better evaluation of parasites and pathogens affecting the hive.

“Because the method is extremely accurate, we will be looking for critical thresholds of pathogen and parasite loads and loss of food resources from which bee populations can not recover,” explained Mr Greco, who is completing his PhD thesis.

“[We will also be investigating] how pathogens such as mites, viruses, bacteria and fungi might interact, both among themselves, and with environmental pressures or stressors, to produce colony declines or collapses.”

The team hopes too that the new imaging technique might indicate what is reducing the numbers of other solitary bee species.

“Many solitary bees forage on the same floral resources to those of honeybees, some also suffer from the same pathogens, such as fungal infestations in their nests.”

The UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, together with the British government is spending £10 million on researching the population decline of bees, some of this money could be well spent on furthering these new techniques to gain greater insight into the inner-workings of beehives.

See a video of the 3D images on the BBC news website here

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