Are RoboBees the wave of the future?

Will bees be replaced by robots?

Several RoboBees sit on the ground next to a 19 mm-diameter United States penny,

while another is held in tweezers with the wings activated.

Photo by Kevin Ma & Pakpong Chirarattananon

Bees pollinate 75% of the world's flowering plants and 35 percent of all food crops. But they're declining, and Japanese researchers are developing robotic drones to do their job… complete with robotic buzzing. David Goulson specializes in bumblebees at the University of Sussex and he's author of Buzz in the Meadow.