The humble honey bee with its powerful sense of smell could be enlisted by Italian security forces to help face down the threat of terrorism, researchers said on Wednesday.
Research in the United States and Britain has already shown that a swarm of bees can be successfully trained to 'sniff out' explosives.
Now it seems Italy is gearing up to train its own 'army' of bees to assist in counter-terrorism efforts here.
"Mellifera bees are the kind used as they are excellent at detecting explosives and can be used in reconnaissance missions at airports, ports, minefields and possible terrorism targets," Marino Quaranta of the Florence energy and environmental research centre (CREA) said. The ministry of agriculture has already funded 'Apiboom', a project carried out by researchers in Bologna some years ago.
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