Dutch scientists train bees to detect coronavirus infections – providing results immediately, not over hours or days
- Using the insects, which have an unusually keen sense of smell, can cut waiting times for results to mere seconds
- The bees are trained with sugar water so that they stick out their tongues when they find an infected sample
Dutch researchers have trained bees, which have an unusually keen sense of smell, to identify samples infected with Covid-19, a finding they said could cut waiting times for test results to just seconds.
To train the bees, scientists in the bio-veterinary research laboratory at Wageningen University gave them sugary water as a reward after showing them samples infected with Covid-19. They would get no reward after being shown a non-infected sample.
Having got used to the system, the bees were able to spontaneously extend their tongues to receive a reward when presented with an infected sample, said Wim van der Poel, a professor of virology who took part in the project.
“We collect normal honeybees from a beekeeper and we put the bees in harnesses,” he said. “Right after presenting a positive sample we also present them with sugar water. And what the bees do is they extend their proboscis to take the sugar water.”
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The extending of the bees’ straw-like tongues to drink is confirmation of a positive coronavirus test result, according to the researchers.
