Bumble bees and serial killers

Bee Newz, originally uploaded by wvdirtboy (ilikegooglebetter).

Foraging patterns designed to protect a hive assist police in tracking serial killers, who tend to exhibit similar behavior:

Geographical profiling (GP) is a technique used by the police to find serial offenders. The search is narrowed down using two common traits: most attacks happen fairly close to the perpetrator's home, but beyond a "buffer zone" that prevents the attacker being recognised or noticed by neighbours.

By mapping out the locations of crime scenes, police aim to identify the buffer zone and prioritise their search in this area.

Bumblebees also leave a buffer zone around their nest to prevent predators finding it, so Nigel Raine, from Queen Mary, University of London, UK, and his colleagues wondered if they could be used to test the effectiveness of the GP model. . . .

By combining computer simulations of the bees' movements with geographical profiling, the team found they were able to locate the entrance to the bees' nest, showing that the police technique was effective.

The researchers say they have also found ways to improve the profiling technique. They have observed different types of foraging behaviour among the bees that could be used to refine the algorithms used by the police, helping to make the technique more accurate.