Activity

Because 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 newest technologies if it’s to function facing growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use along with the spread of worldwide pathogens.

Go into 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 the weekly or monthly basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, therefore can alert beekeepers towards the dependence on intervention as soon as a difficulty situation occurs.

“Until the arrival 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 into the Internet of products. When you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights on and off, see who’s at your front door, all from your smart phone, why don’t you perform same with beehives?”

Although understand the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management will surely have significant impact on the conclusion of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and the team at the best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose up to 50 % in our bee colonies annually.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives allow for more precise monitoring and treatment, understanding that could mean a substantial improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a victory for everyone in the world.”

The very first smart hives to be released utilize solar powered energy, micro-sensors and mobile phone apps to watch conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones around 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 illustration from the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting these phones the necessity to feed (when weight is low) also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense the relative productivity of every colony. An impressive drop in weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or perhaps the hive has become 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 needs to be insulated or resistant to cold winds.

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

CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate better numbers of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers on the need to ventilate hives.

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a quantity of dangerous situations: specific alterations in sound patterns can indicate the losing of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

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

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are experimenting with a whole new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to determine if bees have grabbed mites while outside of the hive, alerting beekeepers from the must treat those hives to stop mite infestation.

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

Environmental control. When data indicate a hive is simply 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 preparing 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 using CO2, allowing levels to climb sufficient in hives to kill mites, and not sufficient to endanger bees. Others will 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 lower levels 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 drain out of engineered frames into containers underneath the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are only starting to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry are actually looking at the next generation of technology.

To read more about Cau ong thong minh go to see the best web portal