Improve (enhance) beekeeping with EE and programming knowledge - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: FreddieChopin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2019, 08:08:20 pm
content: As we all know electronic and then computer revolutions have transformed our lives and probably gave many of us a job. However, beekeeping (many consider it the world's oldest profession) has not really changed since 1940s when War Ags introduced modern beehive design to british farms.I have been wondering, how could we use our knowledge of elecronics engineering and programming, robotics, embedded systems and so on to improve yield and daily operation of single hive or an entire apiary. Maybe we could embed small linux boards inside hives - but what could they do? Monitor vital signs of bees? Maybe use computer vision to detect varroa destructor early? Obviously beehive could be protected from theft by GPS monitoring. Also, I think e-cigarette technology could be used to replace traditional bee smokers (no need to burn wood - less polution).Maybe you have some creative ideas about improving beekeeping with modern technology? If so, share them

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2019, 08:23:57 pm
content: Hive theft is a problem in some regions here and GPS trackers are being used to reduce it and catch offenders.Possible further technology uses are automated entrances to help bees maintain hive temperatures where the entrance is normally nearly closed over winter months which also helps then defend the hive from robbing wasps.This is the hive format used here, loose frames in stackable boxes:https://www.ceracell.co.nz/hive-ware/?sort=featured&page=2E-smokers could certainly be worth investigating and you'd want to have replaceable batteries and/or auto cig lighter charging capability.Traditional smoker fuel was jute sacking but as they are getting hard to find so dry pine tree needles are apparently often used. Used to have a few hives as a youngster but that was many decades ago.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2019, 09:04:23 am
content: If you have a solution looking for a problem, here's one:replace the bees with solar powered, cloud-enabled IoT graphene nano-drones.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2019, 12:54:05 pm
content: You want to measure temperature, humidity and weight as a start.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2019, 01:55:14 pm
content: See Win Hill's recent posts on sci.electronics.design.I doubt they will appear in TAoE X-chapters

author: FreddieChopin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2019, 04:10:28 pm
content: Sensors are fine but they are pretty boring and it would be hard to convince a regular beekeeper to say "YES! I want this 16-point humidity meter". I was thinking more in ways of electromechanical systems or mobile robotics (something that would be hot on hackaday.com). For examples:a self driving beehive.People move bees all the time to pollinate crops. We could design a hive with 4 wheels, a decent-size li-po battery and autonomous navigation system. Early in the morning when traffic is light and beekeeper is still asleep all those hives could drive out of apiary and go to a selected field driving on pubic roads. It wouldnt be that hard to implement actually. Rough positioning can be done with GPS (assisted with Galileo), autonomous driving would be pretty slow (like 15-20km/h) so you can get away with basic computer vision collision avoidance instead of costly lidars. Bees would then pollinate on selected field and late in the evening all those hives would drive back home. Beekeeper can use his spare time to get on with life, play videogames, enjoy his wife etc.

author: ealex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2019, 06:41:09 am
content: HelloThere are a lot of ongoing projects / commercial solutions (one of my friends is a bee keeper and we've looked at existing projects versus what we can do by ourselves):- this one explains what you can do with selected data.Beehive weight looks like it's the most important parameter - you can monitor how they are doing and general health + statistics.Also, local meteorological data looks useful."autonomous driving" - you need to design something like an all terrain vehicle - at least over here you don't get paved roads that deep into the fields.I can't even start to imagine the price of something like this.Also, you don't have to move them that often, as flowers are opened for several days + the bees can fly around.Over here they use cars like:http://www.outdoorplace.org/images/Creative_Beekeeping_Europe_Caldeira.pdf, page 31.Another thing - bees might be quite sensitive to EM signals - the electronics of an autonomous vehicle + electric motors might affect them.If you want to start in this domain I think you should start working on several fronts:- talk with beekeepers to get an idea of what's actually needed and what data is useful- talk with them to get an idea of what they can actually afford- start thinking on how to design stuff that can work in that environment : exposed to weather + exposed to the bees.- start working on the data collection system - local network + long range reporting, etc

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2019, 06:41:39 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on September 23, 2019, 01:55:14 pmResults at:https://colonywise-graphs.herokuapp.com/(results take a while to appear)Electronics at:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/w1xbcwovma602he/AADzRhQgieifJ9z1FoSscDrHa?dl=1"All four sensors performed properly for the roughly 3 monthsof working in the beehive, near the center where the queenwould be, except for the BME280, whose RH readings jumped to83.4 to 83.5% for about 23 days, then started working again."The temperature plots lie very much on top of each other.The RH plots also lie on top of each other, except forthe BME280, whose values track about 7% below the others.The HDC1080 was about 2% higher than the two Sensiron ICs."The BME280 results are disappointing, it's a respected sensorwhose main claim to fame is its precision pressure sensor."FFI, see sci.electronics .design