Bees fitted with camera backpacks to check why colonies are collapsing

Researchers have fitted bees with tiny sensors so that they can monitor and study their drastically diminishing populations.

There are many proposed cause for the declining bee population, including pesticide use, parasites, malnutrition, and disease.

More than 5,000 bees in Hobart, Australia, have been fitted with the RFID sensors, measuring a tenth of an inch all around, by scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

The sensors are going to relay data to recorders placed around hives and known food sources, which will transmit the data to a central location, CNET reported.

This would allow scientists to build a 4D model of bee behavior and movements, which is going to help them understand what the bees come into contact with - like farm pesticides - and how it may play a part in their decline.