Bees pollinate more than $15 billion worth of crops in the US each year, but with the population dwindling, experts are searching for new ways to help perform the task.

Now, a student has unveiled a personal robotic bee that mimics how the insects pollinate plants.

Called 'Plan Bee', the drone is a hand-sized yellow-and-black device that stores pollen in its body cavity and releases it later for cross-pollination.

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A student has unveiled a personal robotic bee that mimics how the insects pollinate plants. Called 'Plan Bee', the drone is a hand-sized yellow-and-black device that stores pollen in its body cavity and releases it later for cross-pollination

THE BEE DRONE A student at Savannah College of Art and Design developed a 'bee drone' to raise awareness of the important role bees play in our food system. The drone consists of a foam core, a plastic-shell body and two propellers. There are also six sections of the drone that meet at the bottom, all of which have tiny holes that let the machine gather pollen while it hovers over plants. It can then release the pollen at a later time for cross-pollination. Other experts foresee the drone being used in large-scale farming, even in hydroponic farming Advertisement

Plan Bee is the brainchild of Anna Haldewang, an industrial design student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia, reports Parija Kavilanz with CNN Tech.

'The idea is that it’s supposed to be an aide to the bees by cross pollination in the hopes of real bees being around for many years to come,' Haldewang told DailyMail.com.

'As Plan Bee is tested, aesthetics and manufacturing of the design will be adjusted in order to make sure the product does its job properly.'

'At SCAD, we actually take a class focused on manufacturing and techniques, which has helped guide me in finding the best and latest materials out on the market today to continue to evolve the design.'

The drone was conceived after she had learned about the declining number of bees, which then sparked the idea for an educational tool spreads awareness of how important these insects are to our food system.

And the design could evolve to take the place or help out real bees if their numbers continue to drop.

Haldewang created 50 designs of a bee drone before landing on the final model, which does not resemble a bee at all.

However, she told CNN Tech that the design was not to mimic a bee, just the essence of it.

The drone consists of a foam core, a plastic-shell body and two propellers. There are also six sections of the drone that meet at the bottom, all of which have tiny holes that let the machine gather pollen while it hovers over plants

Haldewang noted that Plan Bee is still in its early stages, but she has filed a patent for the technology and design. And plans to release in on the market in about two years

'When you flip it upside down, it looks like a flower,' Haldewang said, adding it was her way to honor a flower's role in pollination.

The drone consists of a foam core, a plastic-shell body and two propellers.

There are also six sections of the drone that meet at the bottom, all of which have tiny holes that let the machine gather pollen while it hovers over plants.

HOW BEES FIND POLLEN Scientists recently found tiny, vibrating hairs may explain how bees sense and interpret signals transmitted by flowers, leading them to the plants so they can gather pollen. While it was known that flowers communicate with pollinators by sending out electric signals, experts were previously unsure how bees detect the fields. Using a laser to measure vibrations, scientists at the University of Bristol found both the bees' antenna and the hairs on their bodies 'dance' in response to an electric field. However, they discovered the hairs move more dramatically and rapidly. Looking at the bees' nervous system, they discovered it is the hairs that alert the bee's nervous system to this signal. Advertisement

It can then release the pollen at a later time for cross-pollination.

Haldewang noted that Plan Bee is still in its early stages, but she has filed a patent for the technology and design.

And, she plans to release it on the market in about two years.

Although she hopes Plan Bee will be first used as an educational tool, experts believe it has a bigger purpose.

'It is outstanding. The design is self-explanatory and it offers a very clever solution,' said Victor Ermoli, dean of the school of design.

'It could conceivably be used in large-scale farming, even in hydroponic farming.'

Albert Einstein said that humankind would only survive four years if the world ever lost its bees.

The drone, which looks nothing like a bee, is designed to hover over plants, gather pollen in its body cavity and then travel to other plants to cross-pollinate

A student at Savannah College of Art and Design developed a 'bee drone' to raise awareness of the important role bees play in our food system. Other experts foresee the drone being used in large-scale farming, even in hydroponic farming

And other studies have revealed that the loss of this insect could make 35 percent of the global food supply disappear – and evidence shows these results are not far from facts.

Wildlife authorities in the US added bees to its list of endangered and threatened species in September, which included seven species of yellow-faced bee - Hawaii's only native bees.

The bees face a variety of threats including 'feral pigs, invasive ants, loss of native habitat due to invasive plants, fire, as well as development, especially in some for the coastal areas'.

Wildlife authorities in the US added bees to its list of endangered and threatened species in September, which includes seven species of yellow-faced bee (left). The rusty patched bumblebee (right) become the first species in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered

JAPANESE RESEARCHER DESIGNS POLLINATING DRONE A tiny insect-sized drone has been designed which can artificially pollinate plants. Far from replacing bees, the researchers hope that the drones could help carry the burden that modern agriculture has placed on bees, and in turn benefit farmers. The underside of the drone is coated with a gel that is just sticky enough to pick up pollen. The researchers decide to house the gel on a small four-propeller drone, but found that simply placing the gel on the smooth surface wasn't enough for it to pick up pollen. Instead, they found that using horse hair to mimic the fuzzy exterior of the bee, created a higher surface area for pollen to stick to. Advertisement

Just last month, it was announced that the rusty patched bumblebee had become the first bee species in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered after suffering a dramatic population decline over the past 20 years.

'Pollinators are small but mighty parts of the natural mechanism that sustains us and our world,' said Tom Melius, the service's Midwest regional director.

'Without them, our forests, parks, meadows and shrublands, and the abundant, vibrant life they support, cannot survive, and our crops require laborious, costly pollination by hand.'