Smart Bee Hives: A Revolutionary Of Beekeeping

Considering that the invention in the wooden beehive 150+ years back, there’ve been few innovations in beehive design. But that’s all changing now-at warp speed. Where other industries had the luxury to evolve slowly, beekeeping must deploy the most up-to-date technologies if it’s to work in the face of growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and the spread of global pathogens. Type in the “Smart Hive” -a system of scientific bee care meant to precisely monitor and manage conditions in hives. Where traditional beekeepers might visit each hive on a weekly or monthly basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and thus can alert beekeepers on the need for intervention when an issue situation occurs.

“Until the arrival of smart hives, beekeeping really was an analog process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees in the Internet of products. When you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at your front door, all from your cell phone, have you thought to do the do i think the beehives?” Although begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management might have significant affect the conclusion of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and his team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose nearly half of our bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives accommodate more precise monitoring and treatment, knowning that can often mean a substantial improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for everybody in the world.” The initial smart hives to be released utilize solar technology, micro-sensors and mobile phone apps to observe conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones for the conditions in each hive. Most smart hive systems include monitors that measure hive weight, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, acoustics and perhaps, bee count. Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers an indication from the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting the crooks to the requirement to feed (when weight is low) and to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense of the relative productivity of each one colony. A remarkable stop by weight can declare that the colony has swarmed, or even the hive has become knocked over by animals. Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive must be moved to a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive should be insulated or resistant to cold winds. Humidity. While honey production creates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, specially in the winter, can be a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow for beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is going on, indicating an excuse for better ventilation and water removal. CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate better levels of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers towards the have to ventilate hives. Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers with a number of dangerous situations: specific modifications in sound patterns can indicate the losing of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding. Bee count. Counting the volume of bees entering and leaving a hive can give beekeepers a signal from the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this will indicate nectar flow, as well as the must relocate hives to more lucrative areas. Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to find out if bees have acquired mites while outside of the hive, alerting beekeepers of the must treat those hives to stop mite infestation. A few of the higher (and dear) smart hives are built to automate a lot of standard beekeeping work. These range from environmental control, swarm prevention, mite treatment and honey harvesting. Environmental control. When data indicate a hive is just too warm, humid or has CO2 build-up, automated hives can self-ventilate, optimizing internal environmental conditions. Swarm prevention. When weight and acoustic monitoring suggest that a colony is preparing to swarm, automated hives can transform hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring. Mite treatment. When sensors indicate a good mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments for example formic acid. Some bee scientists are trying out CO2, allowing levels to climb enough in hives to kill mites, but not high enough to endanger bees. Others operate on the prototype of a hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a degree of heat that kills most varroa mites. Feeding. When weight monitors indicate lower levels of honey, automated hives can release stores of sugar water. Honey harvesting. When weight levels indicate a good amount of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain out of specially engineered frames into containers under the hives, able to tap by beekeepers. While smart hives are just starting to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry are actually studying the next-gen of technology. To learn more about Thung ong tu chay mat view our new site