Considering that 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 most recent technologies if it’s to work in the face of growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use along with the spread of worldwide pathogens.
Enter in 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 regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and so can alert beekeepers on the requirement for intervention the moment a difficulty situation occurs.
“Until the advent of smart hives, beekeeping was actually a mechanical process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees to the Internet of Things. If you possibly could adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at your door, all coming from a mobile phone, why not do the same goes with beehives?”
Even though many begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management might have significant impact on tha harsh truth of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and his awesome team at the best Bees is most encouraged by their influence on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half in our bee colonies each and every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives permit more precise monitoring and treatment, knowning that can often mean a substantial improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a victory for everyone on this planet.”
The 1st smart hives to be removed utilize solar power, micro-sensors and cell phone apps to observe 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 even, bee count.
Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers a sign from the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting the crooks to 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 and every colony. An impressive drop in weight can claim 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 ought to be gone to live in a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive ought to be insulated or protected against cold winds.
Humidity. While honey production produces a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, especially in the winter, can be quite a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels can let beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating the need for better ventilation and water removal.
CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate better levels 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 quantity of dangerous situations: specific alterations in sound patterns can often mean loosing 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 with 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 fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to discover if bees have found mites while beyond your hive, alerting beekeepers from the should treat those hives to prevent mite infestation.
A few of the higher (and expensive) smart hives are built 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 suggest that a colony is preparing to swarm, automated hives can alter hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.
Mite treatment. When sensors indicate a good mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments including formic acid. Some bee scientists are using CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, but not enough to endanger bees. Others work on the prototype of a hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, that 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 an abundance of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to empty away from specifically created frames into containers underneath the hives, prepared to tap by beekeepers.
While smart hives are just starting out be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market are actually exploring the next generation of technology.
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