In the "BeesUp" project, scientists from TU Ilmenau, the Julius Kühn Institute and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg are developing a digital planning tool supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to design open spaces in urban areas that are suitable for wild bees. On the occasion of World Bee Day, we talk to Prof. Patrick Mäder, head of Data-intensive Systems and Visualization at the Department of Computer Science and Automation, as well as project leader Dr. Marco Seeland and Philipp Gattung, student assistant in the project. Together they are developing the smartphone app, which will serve as a planning tool for recommending regional measures to conserve wild bee species.
Bees and other pollinators are a pillar of food security - worldwide. Around one in three bites of food depends on successful pollination. The more than 20 million beehives in the EU alone also represent an industry not to be sneezed at. These hives are looked after by some 615,000 beekeepers. After China, the EU is the world's second largest honey producer, producing about 220,000 tons annually. World Bee Day on May 20 is intended to draw attention to the importance of wild and honey bees for biodiversity and food security and to find ways to protect them.
Prof. Mäder, are bees becoming extinct?
Prof. Mäder: The "dying of the bees" must be viewed in a differentiated way. Honey bees, especially the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) most commonly kept by beekeepers , are exposed to a variety of natural and man-made diseases and pests - but bee colonies can always be recreated through experienced and proper beekeeping. The number of bee colonies in Germany is steadily increasing, from just under 700,000 in 2011 to over 10 million in 2021! The "dying of the bees" mainly affects wild bees: Solitary bees such as mason bees, trouser bees, sand bees, furrow bees, masked bees and bumblebee species. There are about 550 species of wild bees in Germany. Half of them have been threatened for decades. Habitat loss due to sealing of landscapes, herbicides and the elimination of food sources are the drivers of bee mortality.
With the BeesUp project, the TU Ilmenau wants to ensure wild bee-friendly cities.
Prof. Mäder: It happens far too often that useless or even harmful measures for the promotion and care of wild bees are planned and implemented due to a lack of knowledge. Our team wants to change that: In the "BeesUp" project, together with our project partners in Braunschweig and Halle, we want to give those responsible for urban development an AI-supported tool with which they can make the right management decision for urban design, based on a specific location.
We know the needs of about 300 wild bee species in terms of their foraging and nesting preferences and link these with anthropogenic factors such as land use, i.e. sports, recreation, traffic, gardening, and the natural parameters of soil, sunlight, and microclimate. This allows us to derive recommendations, for example which pollen and nectar plants should be planted in the flowering strip or where nesting opportunities should be created - and from which material. The goal is to enable successful long-term urban design that is suitable for wild bees.
Dr. Seeland, what is your role in the project?
Dr. Seeland: I manage the Ilmenau subproject of BeesUp and coordinate the work of a research assistant and numerous student projects that are related to the project in terms of content. Currently, eight student projects are taking place, ranging from app development to the further development and evaluation of machine learning methods.
Mr. Gattung, you are also working on the project as a computer science student. What exactly is your task?
Philipp Gattung: As part of a student research project and my bachelor's thesis, I applied various AI-based methods to image recognition problems, e.g., to localize the bee in the image or to classify genus, species and gender. Currently, I am working as a HiWi on the project, where my first task is to develop an intuitive web application that can be used to demonstrate the methods under investigation.
So artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms play a central role in the BeesUp project?
Dr. Seeland: So-called AI algorithms play a supporting role and run through the entire project. To recommend regional measures, we first need to know which wild bee species are observed at which times in which locations. As in Philipp's work, we develop neural network-based algorithms for this purpose, which the app uses to correctly recognize the observed wild bee species based on the camera. Location, timing, and the wild bee species detected then feed into the pool of occurrence data, which we use to predict regional and temporal population and observation trends - again using neural networks. Finally, our AI derives tailored recommendations from this data and knowledge of wild bee species needs.
When will the planning tool be available?
Dr. Seeland: Of the approximately 550 wild bee species found in Germany, we can currently reliably detect the 200 most common ones. In order to enable and improve the detection of rarer species as well, we are collecting further occurrence and image data together with experts. For occurrence data in particular, many sources have to be searched, in some cases first digitized, and the data filtered, processed and checked. Work on the actual planning tool will begin next year, with publication planned for the following year.
What motivates you to protect wild bees?
Philipp Gattung: I am motivated by being able to apply my knowledge of computer science to direct problems in the environment and society, and I am particularly interested in research and development in machine learning. I see improving the living conditions of wild bees as an important task to prevent further bee mortality and the associated negative impact on biodiversity and food production.
Dr. Seeland: As pollinators and food sources, wild bees play an often underestimated but crucial role in our ecosystem. By tailoring recommendations for species-appropriate design measures, we as data scientists can help conserve wild bees. From urban landscaping to balconies or gardens - each and every individual can thus make our environment more wild bee-friendly.
Three tips from scientists for a wild bee-friendly environment that can easily be implemented in everyday life:
- Allow "clutter" in the garden: One of the main reasons for the loss of insect diversity is landscapes that are too tidy and monotonous. A sand pile here, a weed corner there - this allows habitat and food for many wild bees.
- Look carefully when buying "flowering mixtures": It is not uncommon for seed packets to contain neophytes that can crowd out native plants, or cultivated flowers with double blooms that often do not provide food for wild bees.
- Create meaningful insect hotels: These too often fall into the category of "well-intentioned" instead of well-made. Incorrect materials that no insect needs as shelter such as pine cones or snail shells, sharp edges on reed or bamboo tubes that cut the wings of wild bees, or a location in a gravel garden that leaves no food to be found far and wide - these are just some of the mistakes that are unfortunately still made far too often.
More information
- Information and measures of the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Government for more insect protection
- World Bee Day: Information from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Project description BeesUp
- Bee City Braunschweig and BeesUp
The project "BeesUp" is coordinated by the Institute for Bee Protection at the Julius Kühn Institute. Collaborative partners are the TU Ilmenau and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Funding is provided by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Contact
Dr. rer. nat. Marco Seeland
Reearcher at the Data-intensive Systems and Visualization Group