Tiny tech, big hopes.

What does a bumblebee do when it disappears from a flower?

For scientists studying wild bees, that’s one of the biggest mysteries. Finding wild, ground-nesting bumblebee nests is really tricky, leaving major gaps in our understanding of how they use the landscape and what they need to thrive.

That’s why researchers from the University of Sheffield are spending the summer at Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust’s Ughill Farm, testing an innovative new tracking system that could transform how we study these remarkable insects.

Giving bees a tiny backpack

Mike Smith, Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Sheffield, and Chris Noroozi (his PhD student) have spent the last two years developing miniature Bluetooth tags that can be temporarily attached to wild bumblebees while they forage on flowers.

Each tag is incredibly small and light. Once fitted, the bee is released to continue its day as normal.

Left: Charlotte Spencer getting the i-tag ready to glue. Centre and right: Tagged bumblebees (the tag’s antenna is usually trimmed in half before release).©Mike Smith/University of Sheffield

Around the farm, a network of Bluetooth transmitters mounted on tripods broadcasts signals, similar to those used by wireless headphones. When the tagged bee is later recaptured, researchers can download the information stored on the tag to reconstruct where it has travelled across the landscape.

Even more excitingly, each tag contains a tiny light sensor. By recording periods of darkness, the researchers can identify when a bee has returned underground to its nest, helping reveal where different species choose to live.

Chris and Michael set up a transmitter on a tripod at Ughill Farm ©Mike Smith/University of Sheffield

Why does it matter?

Although bumblebees are some of our best-loved pollinators, scientists still know surprisingly little about where many species nest.

Traditional nest searching is hugely time consuming; for example, it took researchers 160 hours to manually find 29 nests of the most common North American bumblebee species! Finding nests of rarer species would be incredibly difficult. Manually searching may also be biased towards habitats which are easier for people to search. This means some species and habitats may be underrepresented in research.

By using this new technology, the team hopes to answer important questions including:

• How far do different bumblebee species travel to forage?
• Which habitats do they prefer for nesting?
• How can land be managed to better support healthy bee populations?

The answers could help inform future conservation work, making farms and nature reserves even better places for pollinators.

Why Ughill Farm?

As Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust’s flagship nature-friendly farming project, Ughill Farm is the perfect location for this real-world research. Its mosaic of flower-rich grasslands, hedgerows and wildlife habitats offers an ideal place to test this pioneering technology while contributing to real conservation outcomes.

The project also provides valuable hands-on experience for undergraduate and postgraduate researchers, who are learning how to deploy the technology and collect field data alongside the University’s research team. We’re delighted to support this exciting research and look forward to sharing more updates as the project develops.

Who knew some of the biggest discoveries in conservation could start with giving a bumblebee a tiny backpack?

Page header image: Buff tailed bumblebee on knapweed ©Vaughn Matthews