This project is aimed at helping plant production and protection by providing a means of rapid, autonomous reporting of pesticide incidents impacting honey bee colonies. We propose research leading to the design of an electronic device to monitor bee colonies for exposure to pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids in Phase I, and to remotely notify appropriate parties (e.g., beekeeper, grower, researcher) of the event. Project objectives include research to: 1) subject honey bees to controlled pesticide exposures and record the acoustic responses, 2) construct an Artificial Neural Network to discriminate changes in bee sounds for different chemical categories of pesticides, and 3) design an autonomous system to remotely alert the beekeeper or relevant agency.
