Because the invention of 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 operate when confronted with growing habitat loss, pollution, pesticide use and the spread of worldwide 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 on the weekly or monthly basis, smart hives monitor colonies 24/7, and so can alert beekeepers on the need for intervention the moment a challenge situation occurs.

“Until the advent of smart hives, beekeeping was a mechanical 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 can adjust your home’s heat, turn lights on and off, see who’s for your door, all from your mobile phone, you will want to perform the same with beehives?”

While many begin to see the economic potential of smart hives-more precise pollinator management might have significant impact on the bottom line 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 up to 50 % of our bee colonies each year.“ Says Wilson-Rich. “Smart hives permit more precise monitoring and treatment, knowning that can often mean an important improvement in colony survival rates. That’s success for everybody on this planet.”

The first smart hives to be sold utilize solar powered energy, micro-sensors and smart phone apps to monitor conditions in hives and send reports to beekeepers’ phones around the conditions in every hive. Most smart hive systems include monitors that measure hive weight, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, acoustics and even, bee count.

Weight. Monitoring hive weight gives beekeepers an indication of the start and stop of nectar flow, alerting these phones the call to feed (when weight is low) also to harvest honey (when weight is high). Comparing weight across hives gives beekeepers a sense the relative productivity of each colony. A remarkable drop in weight can claim that the colony has swarmed, or even the hive has become knocked over by animals.

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

Humidity. While honey production creates a humid environment in hives, excessive humidity, specially in the winter, could be a danger to colonies. Monitoring humidity levels allow beekeepers know that moisture build-up is occurring, indicating the need for better ventilation and water removal.

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

Acoustics. Acoustic monitoring within hives can alert beekeepers into a amount of dangerous situations: specific alterations in sound patterns can indicate the loss of a queen, swarming tendency, disease, or hive raiding.

Bee count. Counting the volume of bees entering and leaving a hive may give beekeepers a sign from the size and health of colonies. For commercial beekeepers this may indicate nectar flow, and also the need 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 find out if bees have grabbed mites while outside of the hive, alerting beekeepers of the have to treat those hives in order to avoid mite infestation.

Some of the more complex (and expensive) smart hives are designed 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 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 advise that a colony is getting ready to swarm, automated hives can alter hive conditions, preventing a swarm from occurring.

Mite treatment. When sensors indicate a good 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 high enough to endanger bees. Others work on a prototype of your hive “cocoon” that raises internal temperatures to 108 degrees, a degree 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 good amount of honey, self-harvesting hives can split cells, allowing honey to empty away from specially designed frames into containers below the hives, willing to tap by beekeepers.

While smart hives are simply starting out be adopted by beekeepers, forward thinkers in the industry already are going through the next generation of technology.

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