Bee-liner is a mobile application designed to address the critical issue of declining bee populations. Bees play a crucial role in pollinating crops, and their declining numbers have far-reaching consequences for our food supply and the environment. Bee-liner merges ancient techniques of locating wild beehives (“bee lining”) with modern tools readily available on today’s mobile phones, including GPS, maps, and compass, and gamifies the process into an outdoor activity similar to geocaching. In collaboration between the computer science department and the division of agriculture, this cross-platform application enlists citizen scientists to help identify the locations of feral honeybee colonies surviving unassisted in the wild, which could be rich sources of genetic stock to incorporate into commercial breeding programs. By using Bee-liner, users can contribute to the protection of honeybees by becoming a part of a global effort to safeguard bee populations for generations to come. Bee-liner’s impact is reflected in its success at the Mainstream Expo Awards, where it won first place, and the Interdisciplinary Awards, where it took third place. Join the movement and help protect honeybees with Bee-liner!
