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Since 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 luxurious to evolve slowly, beekeeping must deploy the most recent technologies if it’s to work facing growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and also the spread of worldwide pathogens.

Enter in the “Smart Hive”

-a system of scientific bee care made to precisely monitor and manage conditions in hives. Where traditional beekeepers might visit each hive on a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, so can alert beekeepers towards the dependence on intervention as soon as a challenge situation occurs.

“Until the arrival of smart hives, beekeeping was really an analog process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees to the Internet of products. If you possibly could adjust your home’s heat, turn lights on / off, see who’s at the door, all coming from a smart phone, why don’t you perform in final summary is beehives?”

While many see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management can have significant effect on tha harsh truth of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and his team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their influence on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose up to 50 % of our bee colonies every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives allow for more precise monitoring and treatment, and that could mean a tremendous improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for everyone on earth.”

The initial smart hives to be sold utilize solar powered energy, micro-sensors and smartphone apps to watch conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones for 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 an illustration in the start and stop 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 feeling of the relative productivity of every colony. A remarkable drop in weight can advise that the colony has swarmed, or hive has become knocked over by animals.

Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive should be transferred to a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive needs to be insulated or protected against cold winds.

Humidity. While honey production makes a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, specially in the winter, is usually a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels can let beekeepers realize that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating an excuse for better ventilation and water removal.

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

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a number of dangerous situations: specific adjustments to sound patterns can often mean the losing of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

Bee count. Counting the volume of bees entering and leaving a hive may give beekeepers a sign of the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this could indicate nectar flow, and also the need to relocate hives to more fortunate areas.

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to find out if bees have found mites while outside the hive, alerting beekeepers of the must treat those hives to avoid mite infestation.

Many of the heightened (and costly) smart hives are designed to automate most 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 preparing to swarm, automated hives can change hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the use of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments for example formic acid. Some bee scientists are tinkering with CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, but not high enough to endanger bees. Others 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 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 drain from engineered frames into containers under the hives, willing to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are simply beginning to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry already are going through the next-gen of technology.

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