Bee Source
This website is primarily a community forum where beekeepers come and discuss their bouts on beekeeping. There's also a section where research papers and articles are kept, which is what I'm more interested in.
One of the articles, Bee Behavior, by Stephen Taber III is extensively on bee behavior research. He discusses very specific behaviors that bees exhibit, such as inclinations to sting, colony health, roles, structure, and signals. The information gathered by Taber III will be very helpful and the fact that this research was conducted in the late 1900's gives perspective on how research on bees have progressed through the years.
Some of the sections in the article are less elaborated while others don't go into detail on how bees decide to perform such tasks (i.e. stinging and the building of honeycomb cells), but because this was done a few decades ago, it's possible that the answer to these uncertainties are floating somewhere in another research article.
This website is primarily a community forum where beekeepers come and discuss their bouts on beekeeping. There's also a section where research papers and articles are kept, which is what I'm more interested in.
One of the articles, Bee Behavior, by Stephen Taber III is extensively on bee behavior research. He discusses very specific behaviors that bees exhibit, such as inclinations to sting, colony health, roles, structure, and signals. The information gathered by Taber III will be very helpful and the fact that this research was conducted in the late 1900's gives perspective on how research on bees have progressed through the years.
Some of the sections in the article are less elaborated while others don't go into detail on how bees decide to perform such tasks (i.e. stinging and the building of honeycomb cells), but because this was done a few decades ago, it's possible that the answer to these uncertainties are floating somewhere in another research article.
Artificial bee colony algorithm
An extremely detailed article on the artificial bee colony algorithm. Even though it's informative, I find that the math is very hard to follow, as this is beyond my understanding. However, what I can take away from this discovery is that this bee inspired algorithm can be used for optimization problems and that it can be applied to many real life situations.
An extremely detailed article on the artificial bee colony algorithm. Even though it's informative, I find that the math is very hard to follow, as this is beyond my understanding. However, what I can take away from this discovery is that this bee inspired algorithm can be used for optimization problems and that it can be applied to many real life situations.
The Green Brain Project
The Green Brain Project is a recent project initiated by a group of researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Sussex-- Dr. James Marshall and Dr. Nowotny as the leaders of this project team. The Project aims to build a model of the honeybee brain and have it be implemented into a robot which it can act as if it were an actual honeybee. Unlike the Harvard Robobees, this project focuses more on the neuroscience and artificial intelligence aspect of honeybees rather than the mechanical aspect. It's still undergoing research but I will closely monitor the progress of this project, as it is within the field of my research question. So far this website has a few models up for public viewing, which hopefully will prove to be useful in the research paper later on. This article published by the University of Sheffield also adds in additional information about the Green Brain Project. What I found most interesting is the use of graphics cards for cheap, yet high performance computing. Instead of buying a supercomputer, one can spend a fraction of the price to achieve similar results right at home.
The Green Brain Project is a recent project initiated by a group of researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Sussex-- Dr. James Marshall and Dr. Nowotny as the leaders of this project team. The Project aims to build a model of the honeybee brain and have it be implemented into a robot which it can act as if it were an actual honeybee. Unlike the Harvard Robobees, this project focuses more on the neuroscience and artificial intelligence aspect of honeybees rather than the mechanical aspect. It's still undergoing research but I will closely monitor the progress of this project, as it is within the field of my research question. So far this website has a few models up for public viewing, which hopefully will prove to be useful in the research paper later on. This article published by the University of Sheffield also adds in additional information about the Green Brain Project. What I found most interesting is the use of graphics cards for cheap, yet high performance computing. Instead of buying a supercomputer, one can spend a fraction of the price to achieve similar results right at home.
Alex Wissner-Gross: A new equation for intelligence
Another TED Talk video! This one discusses artificial intelligence and how it can be condensed into a single equation. This equation says that intelligence is based on trying to maximize future options, as it does not like to be trapped in a box. Wissner-Gross like to compare this to entropy. The more order within the system, the less options you are given, which then is a detriment to intelligence. While I find the concept really interesting, it's somewhat skeptical, especially with the Entropica AI he introduced (it seemed more like he shoehorned it in for advertising sake). With a little more digging I managed to find that, while Entropica is able to use that equation model to solve basic problems such as balancing or playing Pong, it's only showing a limited amount of possibilities. Narrowing down this giant abstract concept of intelligence into a simple equation seems rather skeptical. The discussion comments for this video seem to have similar thoughts.
Criticisms aside, the video does bring the interesting relationship between entropy and intelligence. After all, creatures with the slightest bit of intelligence look for the biggest reward using the least amount of energy. Honey bees similarly signal in their dances that the food source they found is the most efficient for the hive.
Another TED Talk video! This one discusses artificial intelligence and how it can be condensed into a single equation. This equation says that intelligence is based on trying to maximize future options, as it does not like to be trapped in a box. Wissner-Gross like to compare this to entropy. The more order within the system, the less options you are given, which then is a detriment to intelligence. While I find the concept really interesting, it's somewhat skeptical, especially with the Entropica AI he introduced (it seemed more like he shoehorned it in for advertising sake). With a little more digging I managed to find that, while Entropica is able to use that equation model to solve basic problems such as balancing or playing Pong, it's only showing a limited amount of possibilities. Narrowing down this giant abstract concept of intelligence into a simple equation seems rather skeptical. The discussion comments for this video seem to have similar thoughts.
Criticisms aside, the video does bring the interesting relationship between entropy and intelligence. After all, creatures with the slightest bit of intelligence look for the biggest reward using the least amount of energy. Honey bees similarly signal in their dances that the food source they found is the most efficient for the hive.
Wikipedia ArticlesBee Learning and Communication
A really detailed article on cognitive learning/behavior of bees, specifically those of honeybees. It focuses a lot on color vision and odors which bees rely on to collect food/resources. In turn, this allows the bees to communicate to its colony information on where the food is through a waggle dance. My current description is rather basic as there is a lot more on how bees differentiate certain colors and odors. Queen Bee Self-explanatory title. An article on queen bees of a colony! Their sole job is to mate with the drones (male bees) and store their sperm until the time is right to lay eggs. Their agenda is completely different of those of the worker bees and what was more interesting is how the worker bees act when there is no queen bee present in the colony. They would an increased amount of "royal jelly" given the larva so that they can grow into queen bees instead of worker bees. Worker Bee Worker bees have an extensive amount of tasks to do within the colony, and a bee would be assigned a single task to do. Newly developed bees start off cleaning the honeycomb cells of the hive, then nurse the larva, then go off an forage for certain materials. However, what the article did not say is how bees determine what to do. Unlike humans, who sometimes argue over the things we have to do, bees agree uniformly on their tasks. Eusociality |
[Beespotter] Social Behavior
This webpage has a lot of information on the basics of bee social structure, more specifically on honeybees and bumblebees. I found it interesting that bumblebees form colonies on the ground while honeybees set their hives up in hollow trees. While it should be obvious to me by this point, I found out that worker bees are all female, while males (drones) are only in the hive for the queen bee to reproduce with. Very matriarchal if I say so myself! With the ongoing population decline of bees, it hadn't occurred to me that like all other living things on this planet, bees would eventually evolve to counter this issue one way or another. That could mean changes toward behavior. A personal blog post that could probably be helpful towards my research. It's also a question that I now have in the back of my head when looking for more artifacts.
|
I found some books at the school's library! They didn't seem to carry anything bee specific but these had stuff about bees (except #3) I took a quick skim through
- Stokes Nature Guides: Observing Insect Lives has a very interesting section on the nature of honeybees choosing certain flowers to collect pollen and nectar from. They would focus on the flower that would take the least amount of energy to collect resources from. (Apparently honeybees are fall insects!)
- Peterson Field Guides: Insects focuses more on identifying insects through physical features. I'm not sure if this will be particularly useful to my research.
- Insect Hormones is pretty self-explanatory. Very detailed, though it's probably outdated by now. (The author's name is also a plus) My only problem with this book/journal is that it lacks categorization of bug species. That and like the second book, it focuses more on the anatomical/physical aspect.
Harvard's Development on the Robobee
With the issue of colony collapse disorder, robotic bees were built for uses such as pollinating crops. The robobee focuses more on the anatomy structures of a honeybee but also includes a small brain with microsensors to control its movement. Super cool! Marla Spivak: Why Bees are Disappearing
Even though it's not specifically on bee behavior, Marla Spivak’s TED Talk did spark my interest on colony collapse disorder. She talks about the causes leading to this population decline and what we can do on this situation. After watching this video I'll be keeping the thought of CCD as I continue my artifact hunting. A Right Antenna for Social Behaviour in Honeybees
An interesting report on a experiment conducted to test the functions of antennas of honeybees. Right antennas seemed to have faster and more positive responses to social interactions compared to left antennas. The functions of left antennas are still a mystery but it was mentioned that they’re better at keeping long term memory. (Right antennas were able to hold short term) |
A TEDx Talk on the social structure of honey bees. The video mentions a good deal about the honeybee dance as well as the issues surrounding colony collapse disorder. What I found most interesting from this video was the fact that bees are able to reach a consensus when deciding on a new hive-- in just a few minutes.
Let's add a little Java in here, shall we?
I'm planning to take the AP Computer Science test later on in May and I figured that some of the websites I use to study would also be helpful as resources to look back on when researching the programming portion of this project. A tutorial on how to make a graphical user interface (GUI) with Java. I know absolutely nothing on creating an interactive window with Java, so will be really helpful when I start putting things together. Bee Brains Challenge View That Larger Brains are Superior at Understanding Conceptual Relationships
The power of bee brains! Unlike humans (and primates) whose brains have a pre-frontal cortex, bees have a more primitive version called a mushroom body. Both are similar in the fact that they process visual information and make goal-oriented decisions from it. Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium
I found an interesting website that makes detailed blog posts on everything about the honeybee. Things like social organization, seasonal activity, biology, beekeeping are all explained in detail. I will definitely keep in mind to contact the website later on in my research. |