Applications of RFID technology on the study of bees

Bees have the potential to be used as indicators of environmental quality. The parameters typically analyzed in this context include species diversity, colony condition and foraging behavior. Bees explore the area around their nests, whose size and location vary based on the flight ranges and nesting preferences of the respective species. The environment around the nest must contain appropriate resources, which are collected by bees during foraging. Therefore, the internal nest environment is connected to the external environment via foraging. Until early 2000, direct observations and/or video recording of the foraging activity of social bees were the predominant techniques for studying foraging behavior, and paint marks or labels were used to distinguish individuals. Although these techniques are still used, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has been used for bee monitoring and can automatically count the inbound and outbound movements of bees from the nest and perform individual recognition. Here, we review the applications of RFID technology in bee research and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of RFID compared with those of other techniques.