SMART BEE HIVES: A RADICAL OF BEEKEEPING

Since the invention of the wooden beehive 150+ years ago, there’ve been few innovations in beehive design. But that’s all changing now-at warp speed. Where other industries had the posh to evolve slowly, beekeeping must deploy the most recent technologies if it’s to operate industry by storm growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and also the spread of global pathogens.

Go into the “Smart Hive”
-a system of scientific bee care built to precisely monitor and manage conditions in hives. Where traditional beekeepers might visit each hive over a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and thus can alert beekeepers for the need for intervention the moment a problem situation occurs.

“Until the appearance of smart hives, beekeeping was actually a mechanical process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees into the Internet of products. If you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights on / off, see who’s your entry way, all from a mobile phone, you will want to perform the same goes with beehives?”

Even though many start to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management will surely have significant impact on the bottom line of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and his team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their influence on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half of our bee colonies each and every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives allow for more precise monitoring and treatment, which can often mean a tremendous improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for everybody on the planet.”

The very first smart hives to be released utilize solar energy, micro-sensors and cell phone apps to observe conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones for the conditions in every hive. Most smart hive systems include monitors that measure hive weight, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, acoustics and even, bee count.

Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers an illustration of the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting the crooks to the call to feed (when weight is low) and to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers feeling of the relative productivity of each colony. A dramatic drop in weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or even the hive continues to be knocked over by animals.

Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive needs to be gone after a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive ought to be insulated or shielded from cold winds.

Humidity. While honey production generates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, specially in the winter, could be a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels let beekeepers realize that moisture build-up is happening, indicating an excuse for better ventilation and water removal.

CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate much higher numbers of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers for the must ventilate hives.

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a number of dangerous situations: specific modifications in sound patterns could mean the loss of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

Bee count. Counting the volume of bees entering and leaving a hive may give beekeepers an illustration with the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this could indicate nectar flow, along with the must relocate hives to more fortunate areas.

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to ascertain if bees have acquired mites while away from hive, alerting beekeepers in the have to treat those hives in order to avoid mite infestation.

Many of the heightened (and costly) smart hives are made to automate a lot of standard beekeeping work. These normally include environmental control, swarm prevention, mite treatment and honey harvesting.

Environmental control. When data indicate a hive is too warm, humid or has CO2 build-up, automated hives can self-ventilate, optimizing internal environmental conditions.

Swarm prevention. When weight and acoustic monitoring declare that a colony is getting ready to swarm, automated hives can alter hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate a good mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments such as formic acid. Some bee scientists are experimenting with CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, and not high enough to endanger bees. Others work over a prototype of a hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, that heat that kills most varroa mites.

Feeding. When weight monitors indicate ‘abnormal’ amounts of honey, automated hives can release stores of sugar water.

Honey harvesting. When weight levels indicate loads of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to empty from specifically created frames into containers underneath the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are just starting to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry already are studying the next generation of technology.
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