AI-Detected Scent May Help Protect Bees from Pesticides

How can bees be kept away from areas where they might be exposed to pesticides without harming them? In search of an answer, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, used artificial intelligence to identify odors that repel bees.

The team trained a computational model on the composition of substances with different scents and on bees’ previous responses to them. After screening more than 50 million compounds, the model narrowed the list to approximately 130 substances that could act as repellents. Researchers tested the top candidates in the laboratory, and then tried seven compounds with foraging bees in outdoor field conditions. According to the university, the seven compounds kept bees away from honeycomb frames placed in the experiment, with no observed harm to the bees.

The idea is to use a repellent scent in the future to reduce bees’ proximity to crops treated with pesticides. However, the study did not test these compounds on sprayed crops, nor has it yet demonstrated that they reduce bees’ exposure to pesticides on farms. Therefore, translating this finding into a practical protective measure will require additional experiments.

The study was published in the journal eLife, and the university disclosed a patent application related to the compounds, as well as commercial interests held by some of the research participants.