- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Published on: May 28, 2010
The super sensitive sensors of insects' antennae can detect vapor molecules in the low parts per billion, so a UC Davis researcher is seeking to train bees to pick up the subtle scent of plant disease before it can be seen by the human eye.
UC Davis plant pathology post-doc Andrew Sutherland designed an experiment that utilizes bees' sense of smell to alert farmers they may or may not need a fungicide spray to manage disease on their crops.
Sutherland's use of the classical conditioning method - like that used on Pavlov's dogs - was described in a 2 1/2-minute video on
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