Online Lecture: Honey Bees Trained to Detect Contraband

University of California, 10/20/2009

DAVIS — How are honey bees being trained to detect explosives and narcotics?

Scientist Robert Wingo of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, will speak on "Explosives and Narcotics Detection by Monitoring of the Proboscis Extension Reflex in Apis mellifera (Honey Bee)" today (Oct. 21) in 357 Hutchison Hall, UC Davis.

The one-hour event, set from 4 to 5 p.m., is sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology.

Wingo is with the chemical diagnosis and engineering of the chemistry division.

His lecture will be Webcast live as part of the pilot UC Seminar Network program, said UC Davis entomologist James R. Carey, former chair of the UC Systemwide Academic Senate University Committee on Research Policy, which is spearheading the project on three UC campuses: UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Long-term plans include expanding to the seven other campuses.

Viewers can link to Wingo's lecture at https://admin.na4.acrobat.com/_a841422360/ucsn1/

…The bee’s phenomenal sense of smell rivals that of dogs, according to Tim Haarmann, principal investigator for the Stealthy Insect Sensor Project.