Amid vanishing bees, Soap bubbles could help pollinate flowers: Study

Team Udayavani, Jun 19, 2020, 4:01 PM IST

Researchers claim that soap bubbles could be used as a low-tech alternative to robotic pollination technology designed to supplement the work of vanishing bees

Japanese researchers have succeeded in fertilising pear trees using pollen carried on the thin film of a soap bubble.

Eijiro Miyako, study coauthor, said, “ Besides, conventional pollinations like hand pollination are very tough work and annoying for farmers. They really want a convenient automatic pollination method. They are the main reasons why we need to make new artificial pollination.”

The researchers found that a soap bubble solution with an optimized pH, calcium, other minerals and chemicals was the most effective concentration for germination and for retaining pollen grains on the thin film of the bubbles and transporting them to the targeted flowers.

However, The technique creates a lot of waste and the wind and rain can ruin the efforts to pollinate