Raymond Lackey commented:

<When Jerry and other researchers have identified what
to look for, engineers like me will be happy to design it into a hive
monitor that sits at the hive entrance, monitors daylight, temperature,
precipitation, bee traffic, weight change, and even sounds of the hive and
then report the events over the wireless pager network via satellite to the
beekeepers managing thousands of colonies.>

Raymond, you did a great job of describing how ANNs could be combined with
an electronic hive.

But, sorry Raymond, we've had this capability for 5 years.  That was the
topic of my presentation at the American Honey Producers Association in San
Diego last week.  Only difference, we monitor many more weather parameters.
 We aren't monitoring sounds, but we have looked at sound in the past, and
may re-visit that topic.

I refer you to Robert Seccomb's 1998 M.S. Thesis entitled: "Real-Time
Monitoring of Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera L.) Colony Dynamics with Internet
Data Delivery and Behavior Analysis Using Artificial Networks"  M.S.
Thesis, Department of Computer Science, The University of Montana,
Missoula.  Our library should have a copy or you can get it from Ann Arbor,
MI (the home of all graduate theses).

His thesis is already being updated. He is working hard on the next
iteration, which will be able to map beeyards or individual hive locations
and provide a quick way of determining which hives are doing ok, which are
dropping in weight or bees, and which are gaining bees and weight.

Our electronic hive systems have evolved over the last 5 years into simpler
and less expensive units.  In 1994 we built the first prototypes and tested
them in Maryland.  In 1995 we deployed 21 units.  Our initial systems
required AC power, a shed to house the computers, and three PCs. In 1997,
we added internet communications. In 1998 we built a ten hive system into a
6x6x12 ft enclosed trailer.  The trailer had a digital weather station, 2
computers, wireless communications, sample freezers, and 10 hives
(including a misting/ventilation system from transporting hives in hot
weather).  At the field site, the hives could be placed up to 100 ft from
the trailer.  This system was tested in cotton fields in 1999.

Also in 1999, we built and tested a 5 hive, solar-powered system, with the
solar panels and a single PC on a flatbed trailer.  Again, the hives could
be placed with 100 ft of the trailer.

Currently, we have a stand-alone monitor or smart hive.  It has its own
solar/battery power, its own data processor, its own wireless
communications, and a full array of sensors, including the ability to turn
on other devices at the hive (such as an air sampler - which you might want
to do if the bees stop coming back to the hive because they have been
exposed to something toxic like pesticide drift).

The good news is that prices keep dropping rapidly.  The prototype
stand-alone hive cost us about $2k (but remember, this hive has everything,
including its own computer).  Our first systems cost a lot more.

For beekeepers with hives spread across large areas, we see in the short
term a simpler system with some form of wireless communications.  Our goal
is to keep the costs below $500 per unit and to have this available in 12
months.

Finally, the biggest challenge that we see is communications.  Satellite
uplink/downlink would seem to be best, especially in rural areas of the
west.  It would be great to be able to access satellite imaging of crops in
bloom.  Current charges for even the satellite communications from multiple
sites would add up fast.

My own recommendation is that beekeepers need to start thinking about how
these technologies can be made available in a cost-effective manner.  We
need someone to build and market our systems - if we intend to get them out
of the research arena and into beekeeper hands.

The beekeeping industry needs rapid, inexpensive communications (and cell
phones won't suffice in many areas - no coverage).  I suspect many other
areas of agriculture will have similar needs, as evidenced by the precision
farming that is beginning to develop in the grain, cotton, sugar beet, and
potatoe industries.  Maybe its time for agriculture to either contract or
send up its own satellite to provide inexpensive or free communications and
imagery to support farmers.

Cheers

Jerry



Jerry J. Bromenshenk
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http://www.umt.edu/biology/bees