Does Technology Have a Place in Beekeeping?

It is safe to say that in the last five years, with advancing technology, its role has become more frequently a topic of conversation among beekeepers. Some beekeepers use beekeeping as their solace, finding a way to nurture and protect the Earth's valuable pollinators while living a simple life off the grid. Other beekeepers enjoy the camaraderie and everyday experiences in beekeeping communities. Regardless of a beekeeper's unique approach or technique, technology can no longer be ignored as something that may benefit beekeepers in the future. Technology may impact beekeeping by reducing environmental threats, monitoring beehive health, and pest control.

Innovations Help Mitigate Threats to Bees

The strides and push for better tools in beekeeping are designed to stabilize food sources and help beekeepers manage their beehives. The ultimate goal is an efficient and stable bee population. The ability to better monitor what is happening inside the hive elevates the level at which today’s beekeepers can understand what is happening inside, beyond view.

Technology Designed to Protect

Technology designed to help protect hives has made significant progress in the last few years. Those dedicated to finding better ways to monitor threats to bees inside the hive continue to find new ways to improve bee-tech. Currently, the devices also serve as sensors, taking temperature and moisture levels and monitoring bee buzzing frequency. Bee buzzing and wing speed are indicators of things changing in the hive, and these signs may allow beekeepers to help a beehive in trouble before it is too late.

Sensors in the Hive

Sensors placed in the beehive have been tremendous in reading humidity and temperature levels while recording movement and sounds. Activities in the hive will be different when a professional beekeeper manually checks the hive, so observing the differences in behavior while the hive is undisturbed offers unique insight and information. At this time, most data is collected by the company that manufactures the sensors, and data is then returned to the beekeeper in an understandable report format. The ability to see a snapshot of beehive activity and health means fewer inspections, which has been shown to increase honey production.

An additional benefit of collecting sensor data from hives worldwide is that the data builds a global bee database that may become vital to the future health of bees.

Keeping the Mites Away

Varroa mites are a genuine threat to beehives that typically require chemical treatment to mitigate. New technology claims that placing devices within the hive that can heat the hive to a temperature that is deadly to mites but not to the bees can protect hives and ensure mites are gone. It is proposed that a hive can temporarily be remotely heated up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and destroy mites, and repeated treatments of this nature can keep mites out of the hive. In the future, this technology will undoubtedly have a positive impact on bee health.

Hive Placement to Maximize Crop Pollination

The prospect of how many independent beekeepers will be in the future is promising! In some areas, beehive populations are too plentiful; other regions are entirely left out of the pollination process. Some web-based programs monitor beehive locations and provide beekeepers with information regarding nutrient-dense areas where beehives will have sustainable food sources and help pollinate more crops. When this technology is up and running, it could potentially increase honey yield by more than 30% and connect beekeepers and farmers worldwide, which will help the bees and the environment.