Zach on the scent of an application

In a follow-up interview to his research that discovered the pheromone responsible for keeping young bees in the hive, Zachary Huang indicated how his pheromone finding might have a very practical use:

Huang added that the pheromone could be used around schools or other congested areas to temporarily suppress bees from aggressive behavior.

He said finding applications for the new pheromone is a waiting game, but pointed to a queen bee pheromone recently uncovered as an example. When it was first discovered, the queen bee pheromone didn't have many applications, but a Canadian company later used it on apples and other crops to increase pollination rates, he said.

Zachary Huang at work at Michigan State University.