Documentary scheduled to air in August
Discovery Channel cameraman Bob Lechterman films Kirsten McCabe, right, of Biosecurity and Public Health, and Robert Wingo of Chemical Diagnostics and Engineering as they train bees to detect explosives.
Using associative learning techniques -- similar to the type of conditioning used by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov to train dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell -- the duo has taught bees to stick out their tongues in the presence of explosive vapor. Bees can be trained to detect many other substance, including narcotics and bacteria such as tuberculosis.
Bottom photo: Discovery Channel Cameraman Bob Lechterman, right, gets help getting into a bee suit from sound man Erik Donald as producer Annie Heringer, seated left, and Robert Wingo of Chemical Diagnostics and Engineering look on.
The Discovery Channel spent two days at the Laboratory for its upcoming summer series, "The Future." The series will look at different aspects of life in the future. For Discovery's segment on security in the future, the film crew examined the Laboratory's work on the Stealthy Insect Sensor Project, which uses bees to sniff out threats to the public health, safety or welfare.
For this segment, the Discovery crew traveled to the Laboratory's outdoor bee apiary to film the collection of bees from hives. Lechterman wanted to get up-close and personal with the bees, thus the need for the protective suit.
