> > ...it means recording the
> > sound and taking it back to the computer, doesn't it?...

> Using a PC to perform the analysis doesn't necessarily require one to
> go back to their home base...

> I would leave the laptop in the truck
> (powered by the truck's 12V system) and then use some sort of
> wireless microphone/headset combination to transmit sounds from the
> hive back to the PC.

Jerry is talking cheap transducers in every hive, and satellite links to relay
hive activity data to any *remote* location anywhere on this planet -- or off.
This is not science fiction.  He is already doing this.  Students who have never
been to his apiaries are able to conduct experiments at schools far distant, I
understand.  For possible software interfaces interpreting data, he has created
a simulation, complete with alarms, etc..  I have seen it.   Very impressive.
Visit his observation hive page, accessible from my page at
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/ under "Observation Hives'.

Here's another idea for sound observation: if you take a parabolic or spherical
reflector and mount a microphone at the correct point on its axis, you will get
a very sensitive device that can hear faint sounds at great distance.  Such a
cheap and simple device was described using a child's sliding toy - the 'Flying
Saucer' as the reflector some time back.  Such a device could be fixed mounted,
aimed at each hive in succession -- and possibly hear what needs to be heard.

Sound is a funny thing.  Bomber pilots used to use throat mics with great
success.  There is the old eavesdropping trick of holding one's ear to a glass
held against the wall.  Windows in a room vibrate when people speak, and some
snoopers use this diaphragm effect for listening.

Polling lasers could notice the slight up/down movements in hives mounted on
foam or rubber and deduce weight changes from a distance.

There are many tricks that could result in economical harvesting of data, and,
now -- just recently -- there have been developed economical ways of relaying
and processing them to give useful and meaningful output.

Can this be applied to everyday beekeeping?  I think so, and the process is
starting right here.

allen
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