Bumblebees are often seen buzzing between flowers, but their declining numbers have prompted scientists at Kew Gardens to develop new technology.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

The Royal Botanic Gardens, in collaboration with Tumbling Dice ltd, has created a microchip to track the bees movement and provide new insights into the threats facing their population.

The 4.8mm by 8mm device can be glued to a bee and will provide a platform to help scientists track bees between flower patches and show the importance of their role in pollination.

Previous tracking devices were only able to track bees up to 1cm from the outside of their hives.

The radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were trialled by Dr Sarah Barlow on bees in Kew Gardens' quarantine house - a purpose-built compartment inside the glass house.

The RFID tags, which were glued to the bees' backs using superglue, each give off a unique signal to a detector unit.

When used in the wild, a network of detectors within patches of flowers will track the distances and paths of the tagged bees, an approach which has never been attempted before.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

Dr Barlow said: "Although tracking technologies exist they are limited by size, range and reliability and until now, tags with mid to long range detection were too large to be carried by honeybees and worker bumblebees and have been used on larger insects and birds.

"These tags are a big step forward in radio technology and no one has a decent medium to long range tag yet that is suitable for flying on small insects.

"This new technology will open up possibilities for scientists to track bees in the landscape. This piece of the puzzle, of bee behaviour, is absolutely vital if we are to understand better why our bees are struggling and how we can reverse their decline."

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

The technology could also be used to study the impact of insect pests on native flora and fauna and the economic loss they cause to farmers each year, allowing scientists to devise control strategies.