Přístupnostní navigace
Přejít k obsahu
|
Přejít k hlavnímu menu
VUT
Menu
Life at BUT
Submenu
BUT Ambience
Spaces
Dormitories
Refectories
Sport
Brno
Practical guide
Study Options
Submenu
Short-term studies
Degree studies in English
Degree studies in Czech
E-application
Students
Submenu
Courses
Study programmes
Study Regulations
Going Abroad
Scholarships
Social Safety
Admission Office
Welcome week
Final theses
Recognition of Foreign Education
Personal Data Protection
Entrepreneurship Support
Research & Development
Submenu
Research & Development
at BUT
International Scientific Advisory Board
Evaluation
Research centres
Open Science
Projects
Projects from Structural Funds
Results
Specific University Research
Cooperation
Submenu
Welcome Service
International Staff Week
International Agreements
University Networks
University
Submenu
University profile
News
Organization Structure
Sustainable university
Safe University
Official notice board
Career at BUT
Social Safety
Support and Development of Employees / HR Award
Media
Personal Data Protection
Contacts
Faculties
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication
Faculty of Architecture
Faculty of Chemistry
Faculty of Business and Management
Faculty of Fine Arts
Faculty of Information Technology
University Institutes
Institute of Forensic Engineering
Centre of Sports Activities
Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC BUT)
Parts
Computer and Information Services Centre
Lifelong Learning Institute
Halls of Residence and Dining Services
VUTIUM Press
Central Library
Rectorate
CS
Log in
Log in
BUT Web
Intraportal
Studis
Teacher
Elearning
Search
CS
Search
Search
Close
Home
University
News
BUT sensors protect bee colonies from starvation and theft
BUT sensors protect bee colonies from starvation and theft
Do you like honey? And do you know what it takes to get it to your table? The bees must survive the winter, start collecting nectar in the spring and not freeze. But even warm weather and a strong bee colony is no guarantee that the beekeeper will reap the honey. The bees can swarm and fly away, starve, or be stolen along with the whole hive. But there is help. It is called
Apiarist 4.0
and smart scales and sensors providing data to beekeepers remotely were invented by experts from BUT.
“The hive is closed. It is a black box with something going on inside, and the beekeeper only knows what is happening when he or she opens it and looks inside. The aim was to make the hive transparent so that all the information the beekeeper needs for decision-making is available immediately from a mobile phone or computer,” says Petr Sadovský from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication BUT about the main motivation for the research.
The authors of the Apiarist were awarded in the Visionary competition, which promotes innovation in business and applied research | Autor: Jan Prokopius
Frequently opening and inspecting the hives is rather detrimental, the apiaries are usually far away and once a week inspection may not be sufficient in some cases, as several customers’ stories show. In fact, the research team managed to not only develop the system within a few months, but also bring it to market together with a commercial company.
“During a big gust of wind, hives fell from the apiary. The beekeeper would not have detected it, but the scales in the app suddenly showed zero. He got there, found the fallen hives and put everything back in order only a few hours after the incident. Without the application, he would have found out after a week, and by then it would have been too late,” Sadovský mentions the experience of one of the beekeepers.
Smart beekeeping takes into account the temperature in the hive, humidity, but also the weight and its changes over time. This shows, for example, whether the bees are carrying nectar to the hive | Autor: Shutterstock
BEES UNDER SCRUTINY
The aforementioned scale is one of the accessories designed by the experts from Brno Technology. They also kept in mind that the Czechs are do-it-yourselfers by nature and many of their hives definitely do not like the ones in the catalogues. “We have come up with a design that is universal for any type and size of hive. The scale monitors the weight of the colony and transmits the data online. For example, some older beekeepers use unequal-arm balance scales directly on the apiary. But it still means the beekeeper has to physically get there. In our case, we can see what is happening in the hive online,” says Jakub Podivínský from the Faculty of Information Technology.
It was he who came to Petr Sadovský two years ago and told him that he would like to work on something that would be fun, have tangible results and help other people. And since they are both active beekeepers, the topic was decided. Creating a scale was the first step. Knowing the weight of the hive, the beekeeper can determine how fast the bees are bringing in nectar and whether it is necessary to add another frame, whether they have eaten all the winter stores and whether they are starving; in combination with the humidity and temperature sensor in the hive, they can also tell whether the bees have swarmed.
The scale is one of the main elements of smart beekeeping. The beekeeper can tell what is happening in the hive and whether the bees are bringing in nectar looking at the chart | Autor: Jan Prokopius
Petr Sadovský confirms that even the sudden departure of a bee colony that has decided to swarm can be detected without being present in the garden. All you need is a mobile phone that receives data every half hour from sensors installed in the hives. “On a warm day, the temperature in the hive starts to rise around noon as the bees look forward to flying out. Suddenly, the weight of the hive drops sharply by several kilograms, and the beekeeper knows he is in trouble, takes time off work and goes off to catch his bees,” laughs the researcher, who used to help revive the Mendel apiary in Brno. “About three weeks ago, a customer told us that an alert popped up while he was at work. He told his wife to check the garden and she found the swarm in a tree. He immediately set out to catch the bees,” adds Jakub Podivínský.
CATCH THE THIEF!
Unfortunately, beekeeping is interesting not only for those who have inherited hives or started keeping bees as an interesting hobby, but also for thieves. The system developed at the BUT can help even is these cases. A small box, which the authors named ApiTracker, is placed in the hive before the season. The bees cover it with wax so that it is hardly visible. If nothing happens to the hive, the tracker is asleep. But the moment the beehive is taken and loaded into a car, the box wakes up, sends an alert to the owner and starts projecting the direction the thief is leaving with the valuable cargo on a map.
When the hive is too small for the bees, the queen decides to swarm with part of the colony and find a new home | Autor: Shutterstock
“Beehives are sold after the winter for, say, four thousand Czech Koruna. This year the yield is excellent and one colony can produce fifty kilos of honey in a year, which is another loss. And, of course, the hive itself costs something,” Podivínský calculates the damage, and the theft of one hive easily adds up to more than ten thousand CZK.
The researchers see most interest in smart beekeeping from the younger generation. Apiarist will help to increase honey yields for experienced beekeepers, professionals and beginners alike. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the system should be able to predict certain situations and evaluate them based on experience in the future. And it will allow newcomers with no family history of beekeeping to sleep peacefully. “Older beekeepers generally do not trust technology that much. They have years of expert experience, they just need to come to the hive and observe, often not even having to open the hive. These guys have no need for artificial intelligence, they have their own,” concludes Petr Sadovský.
The bees cover the small box in their hive and if a thief steals a hive with this device, the beekeeper can trace it | Autor: archive of Jakub Podivínský
Published
2022-09-15 11:01
Link
https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d228288
Responsibility:
Mgr. Marta Vaňková
Nahoru