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Since the invention with 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 perform in the face of growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use as well as the spread of world pathogens.

Go into the “Smart Hive”

-a system of scientific bee care built to precisely monitor and manage conditions in hives. Where traditional beekeepers might visit each hive on a weekly or monthly basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and so can alert beekeepers towards the dependence on intervention when 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 the Internet of products. If you’re able to adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at your door, all from your mobile phone, have you thought to carry out the same with beehives?”

While many understand 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 and his awesome team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their impact on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half in our bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives enable more precise monitoring and treatment, which can often mean a substantial improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for all in the world.”

The initial smart hives to be removed utilize solar powered energy, 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 perhaps, bee count.

Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers a signal in the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting these phones the requirement to feed (when weight is low) also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a feeling of the relative productivity of each one colony. A remarkable stop by weight can suggest that the colony has swarmed, or perhaps the hive may be knocked over by animals.

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

Humidity. While honey production generates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, mainly in the winter, is usually a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels let beekeepers know that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating an excuse 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 towards the should ventilate hives.

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers to some amount of dangerous situations: specific alterations 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 provide beekeepers a signal from the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this may indicate nectar flow, as well as the need to relocate hives to more fortunate areas.

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are experimenting with a fresh gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to find out if bees have found mites while beyond your hive, alerting beekeepers with the must treat those hives in order to avoid mite infestation.

A few of the higher (and expensive) smart hives are made to automate most of standard beekeeping work. These normally include 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 claim that a colony is preparing to swarm, automated hives can alter hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the use of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments such as formic acid. Some bee scientists are tinkering with CO2, allowing levels to climb adequate in hives to kill mites, but not enough to endanger bees. Others operate 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 ‘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 empty out of engineered frames into containers beneath the hives, able to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are merely start to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market are actually studying the next-gen of technology.

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