Monday, 24 August 2009 11:30

The behaviour of bees can give police an insight into the minds of serial criminals. Scientists suggest that both take similar measures to avoid their home being discovered. This research could also help conservationists and commercial beekeepers.

Scientists are studying the foraging behaviour of bees to gain an insight into the minds of serial killers. So called "geographic profiling" is a technique used by criminologists to prioritise suspects during investigations into serial crimes such as repeated arson attacks. Often the culprit will avoid committing crimes near to their home, to avoid the risk of being spotted by someone they know. Similarly, bees will establish a buffer zone around their hive where they will not search for food. This helps to hide the location of the hive from predators such as wasps.  

The team from Queen Mary, University of London tracked bees from the hive to flower beds by attaching tiny numbered stickers to their backs. They have also attached miniscule Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to the bees to record their movement in and out of the hive.   

The data will also help us to understand animal movements, leading to better pollination practices for commercial beekeepers. Because the information can also be applied to other species, the researchers hope it will allow scientists to develop good conservation strategies for protecting rare animals, and even assist the police build better models for predicting and solving crimes.

Source: BBC

Academic source: Geographic profiling applied to testing models of bumble-bee foraging.Raine NE, Rossmo DK, Le Comber SC. Research Centre for Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London. 

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