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An Auckland computer scientist is buzzing with the prospect of using artificial intelligence to better understand honey bees.
Auckland University of Technology senior lecturer Dr Mahsa McCauley won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to carry out a research exchange at an American university this year to trial integrating AI into beekeeping to help advance the sector.
She would be based at the Farm Security Operations Centre at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro.
McCauley said the project would focus on using algorithms to analyse and predict stress levels in bees in a bid to improve bee health and well-being.
Dr Mahsa McCauley Photo: Supplied/Auckland University of Technology
"Bees use buzzing as a form of communication and changes in buzzing patterns might indicate a stress or disturbances within the hive."
She said understanding stresses would help beekeepers manage bee health and also honey production.
"Analysing and interpreting these sounds, they're really helping us to understand well-being, so there is a correlation between the stress level and well-being, and how they can actually prevent some of those threats spread through the hive.
"So hopefully that knowledge and information can help beekeepers to take care of the well-being of the bees within the hive."
Stress could weaken a colony and make it more susceptible to disease - and stressors could be anything from transportation, infestations, pesticide poisoning or even the beekeeper.
American beekeepers lost nearly half their managed bee colonies in the year to April 2023, with varroa mite the leading cause.
McCauley said the project aimed to enhance precise beekeeping, reduce biosecurity risks and secure smart apiculture technologies to safeguard the supply chain.
"The other thing is opportunity to work closely with the local beekeepers, because at the end of the day they have the expertise and knowledge about their bees and their behaviour, and knowledge that will be fundamental for us to interpret these type of data.
"So we're working together, and I think we can address some of the common challenges and develop innovative solutions that benefit both the US and New Zealand."
McCauley leaves in November for up to six months in the US.
There were six other New Zealand recipients of Fulbright scholarships this year.
More than 1900 scholarships have been awarded to New Zealanders to undertake research in the US, and 1600 Americans have come to Aotearoa, since 1948.