Beekeeping Technologies Beneficial To Your Operation

Quick Overview

This article highlights the top-rated beekeeping technologies that are beneficial to your operations. Digital technology is a major feature of modern beekeeping, which helps you collect and manage a wide variety of data types in very little time. The technologies detailed in this article are easy to implement and use by both beginner and experienced beekeepers.

BeeKeePal, the Thermosolar Hive, and ApisProtect are among the technologies discussed.

1. BeeKeepPal is an apiary management software that helps you manage your beekeeping operation with ease. It provides features such as record-keeping, hive management, and inventory management.
2. The Thermosolar Hive is a patented technology that protects against pests that might wipe out your colony or otherwise require chemical treatments. It has a rooftop solar panel that heats the hive’s interior to a temperature that bees can tolerate but dangerous Varroa mites cannot.
3. ApisProtect provides you with in-hive sensors that help beekeepers understand their hives on a new level. The sensor is placed under the roof of the hive and measures humidity, temperature, sounds, and movement within the colony.

Benefits of Using Beekeeping Technologies

Modern beekeeping is enhanced by adopting technological advancements in various aspects of the industry and beekeeping operations. This article details the top-rated beekeeping technologies that are beneficial to your operations. Digital technology is a major feature of modern beekeeping. It helps you to collect and manage a wide variety of data types in very little time. The technologies that we detail in this article are easy to implement and use. Both beginner and experienced beekeepers stand to benefit a lot by using one or more of the technologies.

Beekeeping technologies have many benefits to your beekeeping operation. The main benefits of acquiring and applying these technologies in your beekeeping are:

1. A better understanding of your beekeeping operation. Analytical reports and information that you get from the beekeeping technologies that you use give you an in-depth knowledge of your beekeeping operation and the factors that affect productivity.
2. Improving accountability in beekeeping. The events, equipment, management practices, and many other aspects of beekeeping that beekeeping technologies help you to manage will contribute to improved accountability in the beekeeping operation.
3. Lower production costs in your beekeeping. The technologies save you physical visits to beehives and apiaries, as well as help you to identify and address problems in the early stages when it is cheaper to deal with the problems.
4. Better quality and safety of your beehive products. Using various beekeeping technologies results in your operation using fewer chemical treatments to control diseases and pests. This makes your beehive products high-quality and safer for human consumption.
5. Boosting the capability of honeybee conservators. Some beekeeping technologies add capacity to honeybee conservation by giving guidance on best practices that have the greatest positive impact on honeybees.
6. Improving tracking and tracing in the beekeeping industry. It is easy to track and trace important factors of production through the records that beekeeping technologies keep. This makes the beekeeping industry more responsible and responsive to global standards of production.

 

Beekeeping Technologies

1. BeeKeepPal

BeeKeepPal is apiary management software that focuses on beehive inspections and the results of each beehive inspection. Using BeeKeepPal is simple and intuitive for both beginner and experienced beekeepers. This beekeeping technology helps you to keep track of your beehive inspections and the results of the inspections. It also has a data analysis component that uses advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence to determine the health of your honeybee colonies. It, therefore, gives you timely recommendations for the management of your honeybee colonies.

You can manage your entire beekeeping operation easily using BeeKeepPal. This includes honeybee colonies, beehives, beekeeping equipment, and workers in the operation. Additionally, BeeKeepPal helps you to keep organized records and generate useful analytical reports that guide you in making the decisions that your beekeeping operation needs for its success. The CheckInspect component of BeeKeepPal is a reliable way of determining whether it is safe to conduct beehive inspections. It uses the location of your beehive, global weather data, and other information to generate and give you excellent advice on the safety of conducting a beehive inspection.

One unique feature of BeeKeepPal that makes it preferable over other beekeeping technologies is its pest and disease control assistance. The software application is a reliable guide that is always on the lookout for disease outbreaks and pest infestations in your honeybee colonies. It gives you early warnings as well as the methods of control that you are best suited to use.

Disclaimer: The BeeKeepPal app was made by the founder of BeeKeepClub.

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2. BuzzBox Mini

The BuzzBox Mini is a pair of hardware and software components for smart beehive health monitoring. It comes in the pair of a physical device to take readings of various parameters in the beehive, and software for processing the data, storing it, and displaying information. The BuzzBox Mini digital beekeeping toolbox technology is a smart assistant in your beekeeping. It uses artificial intelligence to determine the health status of the beehive where it is installed and continually updates you with reports to your mobile application.

Events that you can detect using the BuzzBox Mini include swarming, disease outbreaks, swarming, problems with the queen bee, and beehive theft. It reads and gives you data about the temperature, acoustics, and humidity of the beehive. It also gives you barometric pressure data in addition to the state of local weather conditions. The anti-theft feature of the BuzzBox Mini is activated to alert you when the beehive is disturbed. This beekeeping technology is developed and made available to beekeepers by OSBeehives. It is a company that is based in the USA.

The hardware component of BuzzBox Mini beekeeping technology is for installing into the beehive that you want to monitor. You slide it between combs in the approximate middle of your beehive for best results. The slender gadget slides easily between combs, so it takes very little time to install it without needing to make any frame modifications. It communicates the data that it collects through a Wi-Fi connection.

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3. Thermosolar Hive

The Thermosolar Hive is a modern beehive that uses insulation technology to control Varroa mites in honeybee colonies without using any chemicals. It comes in the form of a beehive with insulated beehive boxes and an insulated inner cover.  The insulating material in the Thermosolar Hive is unique and traps a lot of heat in the beehive. It enables the beehive to heat up to more than 40⁰C  (104⁰F) which is harmful to Varroa mites. This temperature does not harm honeybees. In the Thermosolar Hive, the brood box is the main target of the heating.

Heat energy from the sun is used in the Thermosolar Hive technology. There is no other source of energy that you need to use to generate heat in the Thermosolar Hive. Active surfaces on the beehive boxes of the Thermosolar Hive change sunshine into heat energy that warms up the brood chamber. Varroa mites developing alongside honeybee brood are killed by the high temperature. This method of controlling Varroa mites eliminates the need to use chemicals in the beehive. It improves safety and enables the production of organic beehive products.

In addition to helping beekeepers control Varroa mites, Thermosolar Hive technology speeds up the expansion of honeybee colonies in spring. Warming the beehive also helps honeybee colonies to save some of the resources they would have used to get through winter. Lastly, the technology causes increased flight activity by bees and thus causes the colony to have higher honey collection potential.

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4. BeeSmart Pollinator Gardener Application

The BeeSmart Pollinator Gardener Application is a tool for planning, growing, and maintaining gardens that are friendly to plant pollinators. On the application, you can choose the pollinator that you want to attract to your garden, including honeybees among other pollinators. This application is great for use by beekeepers and honeybee conservators. It helps you to have plants that are useful to honeybees so that your honeybees never lack sources of resources that they need in the beehive.

This application has various features that enable you to get information about the best plants to have in a garden. It has a database of more than 1,000 plants for you to choose from. You can use various parameters to filter through the plants such as the pollinator that you aim to attract, the soil conditions in the garden, lighting conditions, plant type, and bloom colors. The interface is easy to use and intuitive for both beginner and experienced beekeepers.

Useful features of the BeeSmart Pollinator Gardener Application include the ability to customize plant lists based on your preferences, regional plant lists for best results in your area, a wide variety of plants in the app’s database, plant images, and long-term storage of information about your plant lists. In the application, you can also create notes about your pollinator garden using the ‘Catch’ feature. Notes include information such as pictures, text, location, and voice recordings. You can even set reminders for various tasks that you need to carry out.

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5. ApisProtect

ApisProtect is a low-cost solution for the monitoring of beehives. It aims to help beekeepers increase the productivity of honeybee colonies and prevent colony losses. This beekeeping technology makes use of a set of sensors installed in the beehive and software for data management. The software uses data from each beehive to compile analytical reports and generate insights for your better management of the beekeeping operation.

To make use of the ApisProtect technology in your beekeeping, you only need to put a sensor unit in a beehive and then get the ApiProtect dashboard. The sensor unit collects data and transmits it to servers where the ApisProtect software analyses and stores the data. It is unobtrusive in the beehive and does not affect your workflow. The information that you get with ApisProtect easily tells you whether your honeybee colonies are healthy and strong or need help to overcome some problem. Smart alerts from ApisProtect brief you on the condition of beehives and suggest actions that you should take to keep honeybee colonies in a healthy state.

Using this beekeeping technology is beneficial to our operation by easing beehive monitoring and making it bee-friendly. It enables you to know the state of a honeybee colony and the beehive without having to physically visit and open up the beehive. By reducing beehive intrusions, your honeybee colonies are subjected to less stress. They produce more of each beehive product, thus increasing the profitability of your beekeeping operation.

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6. Arnia

Arnia is a beehive monitoring system. It is made up of sensors, data processors, and a user interface. In each beehive, Arnia uses multiple sensors to collect different data parameters. The software of the system then processes the data and gives you output on your interface wherever you are in the world. This system is great for keeping an eye on your colonies and minimizing beehive intrusions. You can easily tell the status of the honeybee colony in each beehive without having to carry out a beehive inspection.

This hive monitoring system prides itself on being able to provide information feeds to its users on any internet-enabled phone, tablet, or PC. You can also access and download historical data from Arnia. This is in addition to instant alerts of vandalism or theft. Arnia also allows for comparing beehives and apiaries. It has been available since 2009 and now has systems helping beekeepers and bee scientists in more than 25 countries.

Parameters in the beehive that Arnia monitors for you include acoustics, brood temperature, hive weight, humidity, apiary weather conditions, and bee counts. The user interface of the system allows you to compare data from multiple sensors. This gives you deeper insight into the health and behavior of your honeybee colony. In addition to monitoring your honeybee colonies, Arnia allows for easy sharing of data and knowledge across their network of beekeepers.

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7. BeeHero

With 70% of crops on the globe relying on bees for pollination, BeeHero is providing a cutting-edge platform and inexpensive sensors in beekeeping to increase crop quality and yield while enhancing bee and other pollinators’ health. BeeHero developed its beehive technology platform with the intent to maximize crop yields through better pollination. The company is headquartered in California, USA. It has research and development operations in Israel. BeeHero has a dedicated team of beekeepers, engineers, food growers, entrepreneurs, and scientists working around the globe to maximize pollination.

BeeHero is great for commercial beekeepers who use their honeybees in pollination activities. It provides unprecedented oversight of your beekeeping operation with real-time colony health information as well as pollination activity. Live updates on the BeeHero interface help you to make the right decisions for the best performance of your honeybee colonies and the quality of beehive products. One of the features that put BeeHero ahead of other beehive technologies is its ability to optimize beehive placement for the best pollination results. It ensures that you get full farm coverage even in large farming fields of crops.

Overall, BeeHero gives you various advantages when you use it in your beekeeping operation such as lowering your operational costs through more efficient team management. It also helps you to address colony stress on time and in the right way so that you reduce honeybee mortality. With BeeHero, you are better assured of having healthy and strong honeybee colonies in your beekeeping operation.

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8. Beebot by Pollenity

Pollenity is a beekeeping technology company with a software application for smart beehive management. The company also has a program that facilitates donations to beekeepers for breeding and expanding their beekeeping operations. Pollenity is largely focused on Europe and is a 2013 offshoot of a European Union program. It has its headquarters in Bulgaria.

The Beebot product by Pollenity is what turns your beehive into a smart hive. It is a set of sensors and a battery to power the sensors. With one charge of Beebot’s battery, you get a running time of 6 to 8 months. Installing the Beebot involves attaching it to a frame in your beehive. The sensors in Beebot capture key parameters and events in a beehive and communicate the data to Pollenity data processing centers. They help you to take better care of your honeybees by capturing temperature, acoustic, and humidity information every 15 minutes.

Beebot compiles the data it collects into a report and sends it to cloud-based processing and storage on an hourly basis. It sends the data via Wi-Fi. Once the data is processed by the Pollenity algorithms, you are sent a report and notified if you should pay more attention to some issue in the beehive. You can access this information and notifications on any device that is internet-enabled and share it with those you want to share the information with. The information is visualized on an interactive dashboard called the BBoard.

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9. GoBuzzr

GoBuzzr is a smart beehive monitoring system that allows for remote monitoring by beekeepers. It makes use of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology for communication between sensors, data processing servers, and the user interface. GoBuzzr is based in India and has seen great success and even won a number of awards. A typical GoBuzzr setup includes sensors installed both inside and outside the beehive, a communications module, and a solar panel to provide power to the system.

The system uses its sensors to capture the weight, temperature, acoustics, and humidity of beehives. It sends this information to the beekeeper’s preferred device at regular intervals. GoBuzzr uses GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology to send data from the beehive to the beekeeper’s device and to its servers. The servers use internet technology to send information from the servers to the mobile application installed on the beekeeper’s preferred device.

Beekeepers using GoBuzzr in their beekeeping operations praise it for easing the measuring and enhancing of productivity. It has helped them monitor and improve their management of honeybee colonies, pollination, and production of various beehive products. The technology also frees up the beekeepers from carrying out beehive inspections so that they can dedicate their time to other aspects of their beekeeping operation. Equally, honeybees are saved from beehive intrusions for inspections and are thus able to carry out continuous production of beehive products with no interruptions. They are also saved from getting stressed by the beehive intrusions.

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10. BroodMinder

BroodMinder is a collective name for a range of devices and a data processing, display, and storage system for beekeeping. It is a friendly technology that allows you to install sensor devices that you want in a beehive. The sensors collect data once per hour and send it to your mobile devices and a central storage server too. In the BroodMinder server, the data is stored for your future access. You, therefore, receive information about your beehive to your selected devices and can also access historical information.

Sensor devices in the BroodMinder collection collect data about the weight, temperature, and humidity of the beehive in which you install them. You can run a BroodMinder setup with one parameter sensor only, or more as available, and as you want in each beehive. This is friendly to young beekeeping operations. BroodMinder utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology as its primary method of communicating the data that it collects. You can add a BroodMinder cell communication hub or Wi-Fi communication hub to add these respective methods of data communication to your BroodMinder setup.

Using BroodMinder in your beekeeping gives you reliable remote beehive monitoring. The technology is easy to install and use. It is also durable and uses energy economically. This beekeeping technology is beneficial to your operation by providing you with parameter readings that you can use to determine the health and strength of your honeybee colonies.

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11. HiveGenie

HiveGenie is a beehive monitoring information solution made for the beekeeping industry. It is developed and made available by the HiveGenie Company which is based in Montgomery, Texas, USA. The HiveGenie technology package combines both hardware and software to give you both real-time and historical information. This beekeeping technology prides itself on providing both beginners and experienced beekeepers the unique ability to monitor the activity and health of their honeybee colonies. You can deploy this technology in one or more beehives at a time in your beekeeping operation.

In each deployment of HiveGenie, there are 14 sensors that you use to get data about bee trips, count bees entering and leaving the beehive, provide beehive location and GPS coordinates, monitor the temperature, humidity, and CO₂ (Carbon dioxide) levels in the beehive, monitor and track changes in the weight of the beehive, and monitor weather conditions in the immediate environs of the beehive. HiveGenie is solar-powered. It communicates the data that it collects through both LTE and Wi-Fi, every 5 minutes.

The software end of HiveGenie collects all the data from your beehives and processes it to provide you with information about your beehive’s status as well as a performance rating. It also generates notifications that it sends to you through your selected channels for receiving notifications. Analytics reports from the software help you to make better decisions. This makes HiveGenie powerful technology for managing your beekeeping operation, including implementing an integrated pest management regime.

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Conclusion

Major benefits of using beekeeping technologies include saving time, easing management, and improving the tracking of products. Typical beekeeping technologies make use of sensors and data that you input into software applications to help you monitor the health, strength, and productivity of honeybee colonies. This is in addition to monitoring the immediate environment of beehives. Beekeeping technologies also improve safety and security for the beekeeper, your honeybees, and your beekeeping equipment. They help you to make informed decisions for the success of your beekeeping operation. Use one or more of these beekeeping technologies that are beneficial to your operation to improve your beekeeping and make it more enjoyable.