Back to the wish list.  Sound is interesting and has many possibilities,
temperature sensing has its uses, bee egress & ingress counts can be valuable,
but I think the main interest to me -- for day to day beekeeping -- would be an
inexpensive and reasonably sensitive individual hive weight data stream
accessible in real time at a remote location with interpreter software and an
alarum system, possibly with voice synthesis and a phone dialer.

Let me dream about what I could learn:

* When a hive is approaching starvation
* When and where there is a flow on and
* Which individual hives are becoming honeybound
* How soon a visit will be required
* Which hives have ceased work and thus
* Which hives need inspection, splitting, requeening, etc.
* Which hive is likely to swarm
* Which hive has just swarmed
* How windy it is (rocking motion) at a location
* Which hive just had its lid blow off
* Which hive has a bear at work on it
* Which yard has cattle or horses bothering the hives
* Which hive is being robbed
* When a yard of bees is being picked up for moving
    (Is it my guys or bee rustlers?)
* When, how quickly, and how well my men are working
* How many supers they removed and how many they replaced
* When a skunk is bothering the hives
* When a mouse is entering the hive?
* What time of day the flow occurs
* Whether working the hives is disrupting production
* What concentration of nectar is coming in (night loss)
* When my neighbouring beekeeper hops over the fence
    and looks to see why my hives are better than his

In addition to receiving emergency calls on my cell phone from my computer
reporting that someone was taking my hives away or that some hives were knocked
over, I could routinely view several reports each morning:

* Unusual Occurrences & Problems Detected
* Previous Day's Work Accomplished c/w Schedule and other data
* Unprofitable Yards
* Proposed Day's Rounds (perhaps using
  critical and economic impact path analysis).
* Work Required in the Next Week

And on and on.

All this comes from sensitive real time measurement of weight.  The real time
component of this data allows calculations of rates and deduction of a lot of
important management benchmarks.  Combined with hive numbering and perhaps bar
code stickers on each hive, this system allows individual management of each
hive.  Hives that do not need attention can be passed by, and the problems dealt
with.

I would suggest that over 75% of the time and resources we now spend in hive
management would be saved, and yet we would achieve better yields and colony
health.  Reporting and record keeping would be proactive, rather than reactive,
and lead in time, rather than trail!

allen