This came privately, so I am quoting the whole thing, with comments...

> All of the cost relating to the beehive data acquisition is revolving
> around a single operator financing the cost of the automation
> themselves and supporting it with revenue obtained by selling the
> honey.   I have no idea how cooperative the commercial guys are when
> it comes to sharing ideas/data (If their anything like fisherman, my
> idea stinks!).  If all the remote hive monitoring devices send their
> data to a central clearinghouse for the data.  This would provide the
> volume of wireless communication needed to allow for negotiation of
> wireless communication contracts (I think this idea was tossed
> around..)
>
> Now, If a clearinghouse exists which contains all apiductor data,
> there will be a broad range of data from many geographic locations -
> many more than a single operator could handle.  Plus, with data come
> the power to analyse - and the more data, the more accurate or
> comprehensive the analysis can be.  If you had 10 apiductor locations
> within 100 miles - that is all you can see - BUT if you had access to
> the data of 100 apiductor locations within a 200 mile radius you could
> probably anticipate even proactively instead of reactively maybe even
> giving 2-3 days lead time for your hives.
>
> It seems if you only looked at your 10 hives, you wouldn't know the
> flow started until one or two of YOUR hives gained weight.   But if
> you had access to data from Jim 8 miles away, and his hives start
> gaining weight, yours 'theoretically' will begin gaining shortly.
> Granted, a little more knowledge is needed besides 'the hives 8 miles
> away'...
>
> Now, that is a big plus for the commercial guys - but - here is where a
> secondary revenue source might appear - there may be 3-5 commercial
> operations working a large chunk of geography,  But how many hobbyists
> exist within that area?  How many hoists would like access to that
> data so they could prepare/be aware of flows?  Using the internet, a
> for fee service could be established that allows people to subscribe
> to the Apiductor System and obtain data and see the current trends or
> review historical information, etc, etc...  I would bet that there are
> a lot of new hobbyists who would be willing to pay $20 - $40 per year
> for this type of information.
>
> There are many business models that can be applied to the pricing, but
> if the market was there for x number of subscriptions and the cost of
> maintaining the site was known - the break even point or estimated
> revenue could be determined.
>
> The last thing to do is call the company IBees.Com, show lousy
> quarterly reports, have an IPO and retire in Florida.  :-)

FWIW, I don't name anyone who sends me private email without asking, if I do
quote it publicly, and I only do that with discretion.

This is a really good post, because it shows that 1+1=5 sometimes.  I have
mentioned that maybe the cost would be nil to beekeepers, if we had a sponsor
who could benefit.

I was thinking of honey marketers, co-ops, and bee supply houses.  They aren't
that rich, or generous, or forward-thinking for that matter.  BUT, Maybe,
Jerry's current sponsors would like access to our sites and the data that could
be found in the countryside we cover and be glad to get their data in return for
the tiny bit that interests us in return for our spotting their rigs around the
country and maintaining them.  Who knows?

As for the sharing of info, I can see some problems with beekeepers not wanting
their competitors or customers looking over their shoulders and seeing their
secrets, but that does not mean the idea has no merit.  Many would not mind, or
would ask for some level of masking to conceal some locales or excessively
personal identifying data.  This is not fatal to the idea.  Co-operation is an
idea thats time that has come.

Many of us share our financial data willingly to help create consensus research
data for benchmarking our industry so that young guys and gals can borrow money
to get into it.  They will be our competitors, but also our friends and best
customers when we want to sell out.  Many of us teach courses and work on web
pages to give away our hard won secrets.  Folly?  I think not.

What is the point of selfishly accumulating things in a world which more and
more values people by what they give than what they have?  As the writer showed
above, by sharing the data judiciously, we all have far more to share than if we
kept to ourselves.

allen