Since invention from 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 operate industry by storm growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and also the spread of global pathogens.

Enter 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 on the dependence on intervention the moment an issue situation occurs.

“Until the arrival of smart hives, beekeeping was a mechanical process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees into the Internet of Things. If you’re able to adjust your home’s heat, turn lights off and on, see who’s at the entry way, all from your mobile phone, why don’t you carry out the in final summary is beehives?”

Even though many begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management will surely have significant affect tha harsh truth 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 almost half individuals bee colonies every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives allow for more precise monitoring and treatment, knowning that can often mean an important improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a win for anyone on this planet.”

The initial smart hives to be sold utilize solar power, micro-sensors and cell phone apps to evaluate conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones about the conditions in each hive. Most smart hive systems include monitors that measure hive weight, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, acoustics and in many cases, bee count.

Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers an illustration of the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting these phones the requirement to feed (when weight is low) and also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense the relative productivity of each colony. A spectacular drop in weight can declare that the colony has swarmed, or the hive has been knocked over by animals.

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

Humidity. While honey production generates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, especially in the winter, can be quite a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow for beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is going on, indicating any excuses for better ventilation and water removal.

CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate greater degrees 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 into a amount of dangerous situations: specific modifications in sound patterns can often mean losing a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

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

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are using a new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to ascertain if bees have acquired mites while beyond your hive, alerting beekeepers in the have to treat those hives to avoid mite infestation.

Many of the more advanced (and expensive) smart hives are designed 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 advise that a colony is getting ready 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 like formic acid. Some bee scientists are using CO2, allowing levels to climb high enough in hives to kill mites, but not enough to endanger bees. Others work on the prototype of the 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 a great deal of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain away from specially designed frames into containers below the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are just starting out be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market are already looking at the next-gen of technology.

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