Sniffer Bees: The Latest In War Against Terrorism

A small biotech company has developed the ultimate device for detecting bombs. It is a shoe-sized box containing three live honeybees specially trained to smell out explosives, TNT, gunpowder and chemical weapons.

The science behind Insentinel's handheld devices is based on the simple honeybee's incredible sense of smell. Odors are an integral part of a honeybee's life. They use their acute olfactory sense to find food sources as well as in communicating and in the queen bee's process of reproduction. Insentinel found a way to harness this ready-made sense detection system in bees in their "vapor detecting micromachines." So just how does this hi-tech setup work? The bees are trained to recognize specific odors such as explosives and associate the smell with a food reward. Once the association has set in, the bees automatically extend their tongues out in expectation of food. The bees are then securely and comfortably strapped inside a "black box" detector. If they detect the odor they have been trained to recognize in a sample of air, they stick out their tongues. In turn, a camera inside the box picks up how the bees react and relays this to image recognition software. The software converts the bees' response into an electronic signal as yes (green light) or no (red light) depending on whether they stick out their tongues or not. According to Insentinel, this technology offers many advantages. It takes very little time to train the bees, it is very cost effective and statistically reliable. Outside of security screening, the company has also deployed honeybee olfactory technology to detect counterfeit goods, smuggled goods such as tobacco and alcohol and maintain quality control in food through detecting spoiled produce. The bees have even been trained in the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer through picking up scents in the breath, blood and urine. By using a range of bees trained to detect different scents, Insentinel promises to extend the capabilities of its black box detector to screening multiple substances in the future. The company also assures the bees are completely unharmed and comfortable throughout their sniffing tasks. Apparently bees work effectively only if they are healthy. Upon completing their "work shifts," the bees are returned to their hive where they readily integrate back and live happily ever after. A Windows Media Video of the bees in action can be viewed here. To view a large closeup photo of the bees strapped in and ready for duty, go here. For a view of the black box detector from the outside, go here. permafrog wrote a nice article on how Croatia is using bees to find landmines.