Since invention of the wooden beehive 150+ in years 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 latest technologies if it’s to perform when confronted with growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and also 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 over a regular basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and so can alert beekeepers towards the need for intervention when an issue 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 in the Internet of Things. If you're able to adjust your home’s heat, turn lights don and doff, see who’s at the front door, all coming from a smart phone, why not carry out the do i think the beehives?”

While many see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management can have significant affect the final outcome of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich with his fantastic team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their affect bee health. “In the U.S. we lose almost half individuals bee colonies annually.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives permit more precise monitoring and treatment, and that can often mean an important improvement in colony survival rates. That’s victory for all on this planet.”

The initial smart hives to be sold utilize solar technology, micro-sensors and smart phone apps to evaluate conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones for 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 signal with 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 feeling of the relative productivity of each and every colony. A spectacular stop by weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or hive continues to be knocked over by animals.

Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive must be gone after 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 quite a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is happening, indicating an excuse for better ventilation and water removal.

CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate greater levels of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers to the must ventilate hives.

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers to some variety of dangerous situations: specific adjustments to sound patterns can often mean the loss of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

Bee count. Counting the number of bees entering and leaving a hive can give beekeepers a signal with the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this will indicate nectar flow, as well as the have to relocate hives to more lucrative areas.

Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are experimenting with a brand new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to ascertain if bees have picked up mites while away from hive, alerting beekeepers in the need to treat those hives to prevent mite infestation.

Some of the heightened (and costly) 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 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 getting ready to swarm, automated hives can change hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate the existence of mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments for example formic acid. Some bee scientists are using CO2, allowing levels to climb high enough in hives to kill mites, but not adequate to endanger bees. Others are working with a prototype of your hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a level of 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 a great deal of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to empty from specifically created frames into containers beneath the hives, able to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are simply beginning to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the marketplace happen to be studying the next-gen of technology.
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