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Since the invention of 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 luxurious to evolve slowly, beekeeping must deploy the newest technologies if it’s to perform facing growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and also the spread of global pathogens.

Go into 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 with a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and thus can alert beekeepers on the requirement of intervention when a difficulty situation occurs.

“Until the advent of smart hives, beekeeping was an analog process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees in to the Internet of Things. If you’re able to adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at the door, all from your cell phone, you will want to perform the in final summary is beehives?”

While many begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management will surely have significant influence on the conclusion of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich with his fantastic team at the best Bees is most encouraged by their influence on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose nearly half individuals bee colonies every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives accommodate more precise monitoring and treatment, and that could mean a significant improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a victory for all in the world.”

The initial smart hives to be removed utilize solar power, micro-sensors and mobile phone apps to watch conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones on the conditions in every 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 a signal from the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting them to the need to feed (when weight is low) and harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a feeling of the relative productivity of each colony. A spectacular stop by weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or hive may be knocked over by animals.

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

Humidity. While honey production creates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, mainly in the winter, is usually a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow beekeepers are aware that moisture build-up is happening, indicating a need for better ventilation and water removal.

CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate much higher levels of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers for the have to ventilate hives.

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

Bee count. Counting the number of bees entering and leaving a hive can give beekeepers a sign with the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this can indicate nectar flow, along with the must relocate hives to more productive areas.

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

Some of the higher (and dear) 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 way 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 high enough in hives to kill mites, although not sufficient to endanger bees. Others operate on a prototype of a 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 loads of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain out of specially designed frames into containers underneath the hives, prepared to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are only starting to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry are actually exploring the next-gen of technology.

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