Behind the Scenes with Nursery Management magazine

What’s the buzz?

British engineers are planning to scan the brains of bees and upload them into flying robots. If all goes as planned, the “cyber-bees” will seek out gas or chemical leaks, people trapped in small spaces, or help pollinate plants in places where natural bee populations have fallen.

If all doesn’t go as planned, well, you have the plot to a bad sci-fi movie.

Robo-bees could provide a huge boon to growers in need of pollination. Honey bees are the most economically important pollinators in the world, according to a United Nations report on the global decline of pollinator populations (click here to view report). Commercial beekeepers have seen average population loss of 30 percent each year since 2006, according to the Pesticide Action Network, a nonprofit activist group.

The cyber-bee project is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council with a £1 million grant, along with some cutting-edge graphics processors provided by Nvidia. The Sheffield and Sussex universities are aiming for the first cyber-bees to take flight in 2015. ­— Matt McClellan

Changing leaves

The leaves are changing colors, and the U.S. Forest Service wants to help you make the most of the season. Before planning a visit to a national forest, you should check out the Fall Colors 2012 website (http://www.fs.fed.us/fallcolors/2012/index.shtml). The site features interactive foliage maps that provide weekly color updates, as well as educational information and tourism tips.

You can also call the Fall Colors Hotline at 1-800-354-4595 for audio updates on the best places, dates and routes to take for peak viewing of fall colors on national forests.