Such tools could ultimately direct the bees’ traffic patterns: Schmickl’s experiments have shown that vibration slows the bees down, while moving air encourages them to walk away.In theory, such a robot could guide honeybees to a safe foraging site if humans determined that another site was contaminated with pesticides and was affecting the hive’s health, for example, Schmickl says.In the queen’s court Through another EU project, called RoboRoyale, Schmickl and others hope to use robotic bees to influence the queen and thereby improve the fitness of the whole colony.It makes more sense to focus instead on creating healthier environments for bees, Niño says, “so we don’t have to be concerned with regulating their flight and their foraging.” However, “from a research perspective,” Niño adds, the European work is “super exciting.” Observing how honeybees interact with the waggle robot, for example, could give scientists new insights into bee communication.Schmickl says making beekeeping more appealing and accessible is one of his goals—for example, if bees could be induced to move out of a certain comb, a user could access it without needing protective gear."