BIOSENSORS

The next step is the the research on biodegradable sensors and the focus to integrate them in the hives in a non-intrusive way. Peter Hanappe from Sony CSL Research Lab Paris leads the sensor development team, and AnneMarie Maes from OKNO Brussels is responsible for the field teststing sites in Brussels where the sensors will be tested in 10 beehives at the pace of a bee-season. Slow art, slow science.

Further development: a bio degradable organic hive design and biosensors powered by sustainable energy to develop a beehive that is at the one hand a sensor of the environment (pollution, nectar, pollen analyses) and at the other hand a non-intrusive bee monitoring system (in times of Colony Collapse Disorder). … (read more…)

I am frustrated by the fact that I never get a realistic notification of the temperature in the broodox during the wintermonths. The temperature sensors are integrated in the topbars from the hive, where the temperature is much lower than in the bee-nucleus. Together with Peter Hanappe from Sony Research Lab we research during the La Molina sessions how to develop a tool that can display the temperature in the broodbox in a more correct way. We will build a beebox (format Warré Hive) with 8 frames, and add 8 thermistors to every frame. This should give us a more accurate temperature throughout the box. … (read more…)

The Warré-model is by definition a hive-model for sustainable beekeeping, as the bee colony can develop at its own pace instead of being controlled by the beekeeper (nadiring the boxes, no queen excluders, ‘optimal’ temperature regulation). The Warré model is not the ‘best commercial model’ concerning the amount of honey production, but it is sustainable as it does not stress the bees with ‘overproduction’ (honey taken away by the beekeeper). The hives in the network are by preference on different locations, so that they can give us information on the bee colonies at these different locations (city, rural, …) and eco-information on the environment they are set in. Goal is to compare the … (read more…)

The enhanced beehive is a gateway to monitor a honeybee colony and its environment. Numerous possibilities for observing the bees’ behavior and important measured values from within the hive are provided as well as measuring data for the climate, soil, and vegetation in the honeybee colony’s direct environment. Storing all of the data over a period of several months allows not alone a very well detailed observation but also the ability to discover and follow long-term trends of complex relations between the superorganism and its environment.
The life in and around the hive is monitored by many measurement systems. Two webcams , equipped with infrared leds, make it possible to see in the … (read more…)