Bees in a Box Buzz Bombs

[Stan]

http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/7.3/focu...romenshenk.htm

Issue 7.3, December 2003

Honey bees have recently received considerable attention from the popular press as an innovative method to detect a variety of explosives, landmines and UXO. Many of these reports are inaccurate and may encourage individuals and demining groups to “sell” a service that they poorly understand or lack the experience to properly apply. As the developers of this technology, we offer the following summary about the current status of this alternative for landmine detection, including its strengths and limitations.

by Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Colin B. Henderson, Robert A. Seccomb, Steven D. Rice and Robert T. Etter, Bee Alert Technology, Inc. and UM; Susan F.A. Bender and Philip J. Rodacy, SNL; Joseph A. Shaw, Nathan L. Seldomridge and Lee H. Spangler, MSU; and James J. Wilson, NOAA

Results of Ft. Leonard Wood Bee Trials

All of the data forms (LIDAR, video, visual counts) indicate that area reduction, identification, and ranking (strength of the plume source) could be determined using bees. The following are some results of the trials:

1. LIDAR was able to detect individual bees at long ranges of hundreds of meters. Fixed and scan modes were tested and proved capable of providing bee location and range data within a few centimeters’ resolution.
2. Video and visual counts showed that bees found both individual mines and clusters of mines within the test area.
3. Preliminary chemical analyses results indicate that numbers of bees correlate with plume concentrations. Ten of 12 vapor sources identified by the initial chemical analysis have already been detected by a partial data set of bee counts (based on only four days of the data). The contour maps of the landmine field, based on the visual and partial video counts of bees and on the cumulative results of three different chemical sampling methods illustrate the degree of localization that was achieved.
4. In the designated, unmined, blank or control area, the LIDAR detected a concentration of bees over a spot in front of the minefield. When that spot was later sampled, it was found to be contaminated with TNT, 2.4-DNT and 4-amino DNT.
5. The pressurized conditioning system worked flawlessly, and Missouri bees conditioned as readily as any of the bees that we have previously worked with in Montana and Texas.

The bees also made a surprise detection of a contaminated site where none was expected. This example proves the importance of combining a high-resolution tracking system such as LIDAR with properly conditioned bees as a system for detecting explosives or residues.