According to a study published in the journal Environmental Microbiome, bees could provide insight into the microbial landscape of the cities they forage in, and thus provide clues to both hive health and human health.

Researchers led by Elizabeth Henoff of New York University explored the potential of bees to collect microbial samples in cities as they forage daily in the urban environment around their hives.

They studied three hives in New York and found a variety of genetic information, including bacteria and pathogens from the environment.

More recent samples of hive remains in Sydney, Melbourne, Venice and Tokyo have shown that each site has a unique genetic signature.

The results also showed that the analysis of cell fragments can provide information for assessing their health.

The researchers note, however, that the results are currently too preliminary to suggest that this is an effective method for monitoring human disease.

Source: RES-IPE