Smart Bee Hives: A Revolutionary Of Beekeeping

Because 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 recent technologies if it’s to function in the face of growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and the spread of world pathogens. Type in the “Smart Hive” -a system of scientific bee care made 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 thus can alert beekeepers towards the requirement for intervention after an issue situation occurs.

“Until the advent of smart hives, beekeeping really was an analog process.” Says our founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich. “With technology we’re bringing bees to the Internet of products. When you can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights off and on, see who’s at the entry way, all from your smart phone, why don't you do the same goes with beehives?” Even though many start to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management can have significant effect on the conclusion of farmers, orchardists and commercial beekeepers-Wilson-Rich and the team at Best Bees is most encouraged by their effect on bee health. “In the U.S. we lose nearly half in our bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives accommodate more precise monitoring and treatment, knowning that can often mean a substantial improvement in colony survival rates. That’s a victory for everybody on the planet.” The very first smart hives to be released utilize solar technology, micro-sensors and mobile phone apps to watch 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 some cases, bee count. Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers a sign of the stop and start of nectar flow, alerting them to the call to feed (when weight is low) and to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense the relative productivity of each one colony. A remarkable stop by weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or even the hive has been knocked over by animals. Temperature. Monitoring hive temperature can alert beekeepers to dangerous conditions: excessive heat indicating the hive needs to be gone to live in a shady spot or ventilated; unusually low heat indicating the hive should be insulated or resistant to cold winds. Humidity. While honey production generates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, especially in the winter, can be a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels can let beekeepers understand that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating any excuses for better ventilation and water removal. CO2 levels. While bees can tolerate much higher numbers of CO2 than humans, excessive levels can kill them. Monitoring CO2 levels can alert beekeepers towards the have to ventilate hives. Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a amount of dangerous situations: specific alterations in sound patterns can often mean the losing of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding. Bee count. Counting the number of bees entering and leaving a hive will give beekeepers an illustration from the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this could indicate nectar flow, along with the have to relocate hives to more lucrative areas. Mite monitoring. Australian scientists are tinkering with a new gateway to hives that where bees entering hives are photographed and analyzed to ascertain if bees have acquired mites while away from hive, alerting beekeepers of the need to treat those hives to stop mite infestation. Some of the higher (and dear) smart hives are made 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 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 adjust hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring. Mite treatment. When sensors indicate a good mites, automated hives can release anti-mite treatments for example formic acid. Some bee scientists are using CO2, allowing levels to climb sufficient in hives to kill mites, however, not enough to endanger bees. Others will work with a prototype of the hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a level of 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 good amount of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to empty away from specially engineered frames into containers under the hives, ready to tap by beekeepers. While smart hives are just start to be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers on the market are actually going through the next generation of technology. Check out about Thung ong tu chay mat just go to this popular site