Bee Hive Monitor

Abstract

This paper will cover a project for a device that will monitor a beehive and give a status of the health and productivity of the hive to the beekeeper. Bee keeping is a very large industry with approximately 2.44 million bee colonies in the US. Bees are vital to our food supply. The value of pollination by bees in the US alone is estimated to be worth $16 billon. A phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has brought significant loss to honeybee colonies. If a hive experiences CCD most of the bees will leave the hive for no apparent reason. It is imperative to understand a hive’s health and activities for a beekeeper to take care of the bees effectively. The system in this paper takes readings from inside the hive such as temperature, humidity, and noise. A camera is mounted on the outside of the hive to monitor bee activity and keep track of the activity at the beehive entrance. All this data is interpreted by algorithms that alert the beekeeper on the health of the hive. Some of these algorithms use machine learning to determine the health of the hive. This paper reviews various project currently in the market for beehive monitoring as well as a literature review of some of the research in bee monitoring systems.