Honeybees scavenge airborne bacteria from the atmosphere

Individual tethered honey bees "flying" through a cloud of aerosolized bacterial spores in a mini-wind tunnel adsorbed the lspores. The quantity of spores adsorbed was directly related to the difference in the electrostatic charge (in pC) on the bees and the spore aerosol, and the proportional to the dose of spores. The wind tunnel system will also be described.