Since invention in the wooden beehive 150+ in years past, 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 recent technologies if it’s to perform industry by storm growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and 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 with a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and thus can alert beekeepers towards the requirement for intervention when a challenge situation occurs.
“Until the advent 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 into the Internet of products. If you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights off and on, see who’s at the doorway, all from your smart phone, you will want to perform same with beehives?”
Even though many see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management may have significant affect tha harsh truth 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 of our own bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives permit more precise monitoring and treatment, understanding that could mean an important improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for all on this planet.”
The very first smart hives to be released utilize solar technology, micro-sensors and smart phone apps to observe conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones about 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 a sign from the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting these to the need to feed (when weight is low) and to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense the relative productivity of every colony. A dramatic drop in weight can advise that the colony has swarmed, or the hive continues to be knocked over by animals.
Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive must be gone after a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive needs to be insulated or protected from cold winds.
Humidity. While honey production produces a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, especially in the winter, is usually a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow for beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating a need for better ventilation and water removal.
CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate greater amounts of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers towards the must ventilate hives.
Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers to a variety of dangerous situations: specific alterations in sound patterns can indicate the loss of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.
Bee count. Counting the amount of bees entering and leaving a hive may give beekeepers an indication with the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this will indicate nectar flow, and the have to relocate hives to more fortunate areas.
Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a brand new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to find out if bees have found mites while outside of the hive, alerting beekeepers of the have to treat those hives to avoid mite infestation.
A few of the more advanced (and costly) smart hives are made to automate much of standard beekeeping work. These normally include 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 advise that a colony is getting ready to swarm, automated hives can transform hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.
Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the presence of 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, and not sufficient to endanger bees. Others operate with a prototype of an hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a degree of heat that kills most varroa mites.
Feeding. When weight monitors indicate low 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 empty out of specifically created frames into containers underneath the hives, prepared to tap by beekeepers.
While smart hives are only starting to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market already are looking at the next generation of technology.
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