Did you know this secret? The latest study reveals the latest data: Bees can provide information about the health of city dwellers

Bees can provide information about the microbial landscape of the cities where they forage, and thus clues to both hive health and human health, according to research published in the journal Environmental Microbiome.

The researchers, led by Elizabeth Henoff of New York University, studied the potential of bees to help collect samples of microorganisms in cities as they forage daily in the urban environments surrounding their hives.

They studied three hives in New York and found a variety of genetic information, including environmental bacteria and pathogens.

Subsequent samples of hive remains in Sydney, Melbourne, Venice and Tokyo suggested that each site has a unique genetic signature. Also, the findings showed that analysis of cell fragments can provide information to assess their health.

Each city exhibits a unique metagenomic profile as seen by bees. These profiles provide important information about hive health, such as known bee symbionts and pathogens. Furthermore, it is shown that this method can be used for human pathogen surveillance.

The researchers note, however, that currently the findings are too preliminary to suggest that this is an effective method for monitoring human disease.