Smart Bee Hives: A Considerable Of Beekeeping
Since the invention in the wooden beehive 150+ in the past, 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 operate facing growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use along with the spread of worldwide pathogens.
Enter in the “Smart Hive”
-a system of scientific bee care designed to precisely monitor and manage conditions in hives. Where traditional beekeepers might visit each hive with a weekly or monthly basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and thus can alert beekeepers for the requirement for intervention the moment an issue situation occurs.
“Until the arrival 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. When you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights off and on, see who’s your doorway, all from your smartphone, why not carry out the same goes with beehives?”
Even though many begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management can have significant effect on the final outcome of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich with his fantastic team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half of our bee colonies annually.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives enable more precise monitoring and treatment, understanding that could mean an important improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a victory for everyone on this planet.”
The first smart hives to be sold utilize solar technology, micro-sensors and smartphone 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 a sign of the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting these to the call 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. A spectacular drop in weight can declare that the colony has swarmed, or even 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 moved to a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive ought to be insulated or shielded from cold winds.
Humidity. While honey production creates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, especially in the winter, can be 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 much higher degrees of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers for the should ventilate hives.
Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers with a amount of dangerous situations: specific changes in sound patterns can often mean the losing of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.
Bee count. Counting the quantity of bees entering and leaving a hive can provide beekeepers an illustration from the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this may indicate nectar flow, along with the need to relocate hives to more productive areas.
Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to find out if bees have acquired mites while beyond your hive, alerting beekeepers of the have to treat those hives to stop mite infestation.
A number of the higher (and expensive) smart hives are created to automate a lot 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 getting ready to swarm, automated hives can transform hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.
Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the existence of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments like 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 with a prototype of a hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a degree 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 a good amount of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain from specifically created frames into containers beneath the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers.
While smart hives are only start to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market are actually looking at the next generation of technology.
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