TOKYO — Scientists in Japan have built a robot bee designed to help ease the burden of pollination duties amid a dwindling bee population.

The robot bee is a tiny drone equipped with horsehair that mimics the fuzzy body of a real bee. It is coated with an ionic liquid gel, which was the result of a failed experiment into liquids that could be used as electrical conductors.

“We were surprised that after 8 years, the ionic gel didn't degrade and was still so viscous. Conventional gels are mainly made of water and can't be used for a long time, so we decided to use this material for research,” researcher Eijiro Miyako told Phys.org.

Miyako’s team experimented with the drone on pink-leaved Japanese lilies. The robotic bee successfully absorbed pollen from one petal and artificially pollinated a second flower.

Miyako does not think robot bees can replace real bees, but sees them as a supplementary aid for pollination, which is essential for growing many crops.