The Trouble with Chasing a Bee

Radar struggles to track backyard bugs

Randolf Menzel runs a sophisticated insect-neurobiology lab in Berlin, but he puzzled for years over how to follow a bee. “Running behind a bee doesn’t help very much,” he says. Racing along, an observer can keep a tiny spot against the sky in sight for a good distance, but sooner or later the person glances away from the bee for a second.