RFID tags on honey bees reveal hive dynamics

Scientists attached radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to hundreds of individual honey bees and tracked them for several weeks. The effort yielded two discoveries: Some foraging bees are much busier than others; and if those busy bees disappear, others will take their place. The findings are reported in Animal Behaviour. Tagging the bees revealed that about 20% of the foraging bees in a hive brought home more than half of the nectar and pollen gathered to feed the hive.