Varroa destructor is a deadly stowaway that port authorities are determined to keep away from the bee population in the southeast Australian state of Victoria. Artificially intelligent beehives are being installed at Victorian ports to detect pests as they arrive at ships rapidly. "The Varroa mite is extremely destructive; it kills bees very rapidly," said Mary-Anne Thomas, the Victorian agriculture minister. "I would look forward to a project like the Purple Hive rolling out across the country. Purple Hive was launched on March 29 at the Port of Melbourne -- a solar-powered device that detects Varroa destructor, a mite that feeds on honey bees. Using artificial intelligence and cameras, Purple Hive provides alerts in real-time and has been trialed in New Zealand, where the mite is established. The technology scans each honey bee entering the Purple Hive to determine if Varroa mite is present. The hive is colored purple because it attracts bees. Thomas tweeted a picture of a hive being installed. "At #BegaCheese, we're absolutely buzzing with excitement to announce that B honey's Purple Hive has officially found its first home at the Port of Melbourne, as we join forces with @VicGovAg to help protect honey bee populations from Varroa destructor," read the tweet of Jimmy Coleman, marketing manager of digital and communications, Bega Cheese. "Varroa destructor is the world's most devastating pest of Western honey bees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus," as per the website of the University of Florida. "Accurate estimates of the effect of Varroa on the apiculture industry are hard to find, but it is safe to assume that the mites have killed hundreds of thousands of colonies worldwide, resulting in billions of dollars of economic loss." The adult female mites are reddish-brown to dark brown and oval. Adult males are yellowish with light tan legs and have a spherical body shape. Varroa destructor, the most significant single driver of the global honey bee health decline, was detected on a ship that entered the Port of Melbourne in 2018, but authorities stopped it from becoming an outbreak. "Australia is the only populated country in the world that the Varroa destructor hasn't impacted.

Modern agriculture depends on bees. In fact, our entire ecosystem, including the food we eat and the air we breathe, counts on pollinators. But the pollinator population is declining according to Sabiha Rumani Malik, the founder and executive president of The World Bee Project. But, in an intriguing collaboration with Oracle and by putting artificial intelligence, internet of things and big data to work on the problem, they hope to reverse the trend. Why is the global bee population in decline?

Modern agriculture depends on bees. In fact, our entire ecosystem, including the food we eat and the air we breathe, counts on pollinators. But the pollinator population is declining according to Sabiha Rumani Malik, the founder and executive president of The World Bee Project. But, in an intriguing collaboration with Oracle and by putting artificial intelligence, internet of things and big data to work on the problem, they hope to reverse the trend. Why is the global bee population in decline?

What do cucumbers, avocados and coffee all have in common? Aside from being absolute necessities (yes, avocados too), they're all crops pollinated by bees. And if things keep heading in the direction they're at, we're screwed. Considered by many to be annoying little pests buzzing precariously near our ears, bees are extremely important. About one third of all plants and plant products consumed by humans are dependent on bee pollination.

Can artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning help save the world's bees? That's the hope of scientists who are scrambling to reverse the dramatic declines in bee populations. Bees are in trouble, but we're not quite sure why. It could be the overuse of insecticides; air pollution; warming temperatures; the varroa destructor mite; or even interference from electromagnetic radiation. Or it could be a combination of all these factors.

February 21, 2017 --Scientists have compiled a map detailing wild bee activity across the US, but the picture it paints isn't great. It's no secret that bees are struggling to stay aloft. The precise reasons are up for debate, but many experts agree that a perfect storm of pressures from pesticide use, the rise of monocrop agriculture, declines in natural habitat, and global warming are squeezing many bee populations out of existence. A 2016 UN report found that 2 out of every 5 spineless pollinator species are facing extinction. Unchecked, this trend could have disastrous consequences for global agriculture.

Mini drones sporting horsehair coated in a sticky gel could one day take the pressure off beleaguered bee populations by transporting pollen from plant to plant, researchers said. Roughly three-quarters of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animals to pollinate them, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some of nature's most prolific pollinators are bees, but bee populations are declining around the world, and last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed a native species as endangered for the first time. Now, researchers from Japan said they've taken the first steps toward creating robots that could help pick up the slack from insect pollinators. The scientists created a sticky gel that lets a $100 matchbox-size drone pick up pollen from one flower and deposit it onto another to help the plants reproduce.