Because the invention with 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 newest technologies if it’s to work when confronted with growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use along with the spread of worldwide pathogens.
Enter in 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 with a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, so can alert beekeepers on the need for intervention as soon as an issue situation occurs.
“Until the advent of smart hives, beekeeping really was a mechanical process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees in the Internet of Things. If you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights on and off, see who’s at the entry way, all from your cell phone, have you thought to perform in final summary is beehives?”
Even though many start to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management might have significant effect on the bottom line of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and his awesome team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half in our bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives permit more precise monitoring and treatment, which could mean a significant improvement in colony survival rates. That’s victory for everybody in the world.”
The 1st smart hives to be sold utilize solar energy, micro-sensors and mobile phone apps to watch conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones around the conditions in every 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 of the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting the crooks to the need to feed (when weight is low) and also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers feeling of the relative productivity of each one colony. An impressive stop by weight can declare that the colony has swarmed, or perhaps the hive continues to be knocked over by animals.
Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive ought to be gone after a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive should be insulated or protected 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 allow for beekeepers know that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating an excuse for better ventilation and water removal.
CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate better degrees of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers on the should ventilate hives.
Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a amount of dangerous situations: specific changes in sound patterns can often mean the loss of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.
Bee count. Counting the quantity of bees entering and leaving a hive can give beekeepers an illustration in the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this can indicate nectar flow, and the have to relocate hives to more lucrative areas.
Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are using a fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to ascertain if bees have picked up mites while outside of the hive, alerting beekeepers from the have to treat those hives to stop mite infestation.
A few of the higher (and costly) smart hives are built to automate a lot of standard beekeeping work. These can 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 advise that a colony is preparing to swarm, automated hives can adjust hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.
Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the presence of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments such as formic acid. Some bee scientists are tinkering with CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, and not adequate to endanger bees. Others will work with a prototype of the hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a level of 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 an abundance of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain beyond specially designed frames into containers beneath the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers.
While smart hives are just start to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market happen to be looking at the next-gen of technology.
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