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Considering that the invention in 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 up-to-date technologies if it’s to work facing growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and the spread of world pathogens.

Enter 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 regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, therefore can alert beekeepers to the dependence on intervention the moment an issue 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 into the Internet of Things. If you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at your front door, all from the cell phone, why not do the do i think the beehives?”

Although begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management might have significant impact on the final outcome of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and the team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose up to 50 % of our bee colonies each and every year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives enable more precise monitoring and treatment, understanding that can often mean a significant improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for anyone in the world.”

The initial smart hives to be released utilize solar energy, micro-sensors and cell phone 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 perhaps, bee count.

Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers an indication in the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting them to the need to feed (when weight is low) and also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers feeling of the relative productivity of each colony. A remarkable stop by 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 should be gone to live in 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, mainly in the winter, could be a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels let beekeepers realize that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating a 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 to the need to ventilate hives.

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

Bee count. Counting the quantity of bees entering and leaving a hive will give beekeepers a sign with the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this can indicate nectar flow, and the should relocate hives to easier areas.

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a whole new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to discover if bees have found mites while away from hive, alerting beekeepers from the should treat those hives to stop mite infestation.

Many of the higher (and dear) smart hives are created to automate most of standard beekeeping work. These can include environmental control, swarm prevention, mite treatment and honey harvesting.

Environmental control. When data indicate a hive is 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 adjust hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the existence of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments such as formic acid. Some bee scientists are trying out CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, although not adequate to endanger bees. Others are working over a prototype of your 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 a great deal of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to drain out of engineered frames into containers below the hives, prepared to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are only beginning to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry are already looking at the next-gen of technology.

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