A Wireless Sensor Platform for Beehive Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Entomology
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Honey bees are vital for biodiversity and global food security, facing significant colony decline.
• External disturbances can impact honey bee colony health and stress levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate honey bee stress level monitoring due to external disturbances.
• To design, build, and validate a wireless sensor board for real-time monitoring of beehive internal conditions.

Main Methods:

• Developed a wireless sensor board with NDIR-based SCD30 and SCD41 sensors for CO2, temperature, and humidity.
• Integrated sensors with a custom PCB and Particle Argon microprocessor for Wi-Fi communication.
• Tested and validated the sensor board with live beehives during summer and winter.

Main Results:

• The sensor board effectively monitored internal beehive conditions.
• Bee colonies exhibited stress responses including a >5°C temperature increase, a CO2 rise from 3000 to >10,000 ppm, and a ~10% relative humidity drop upon disturbance.
• The system demonstrated adequacy for real-time bee colony monitoring.

Conclusions:

• The developed wireless sensor board is adequate for monitoring honey bee colony stress responses.
• Real-time monitoring of internal beehive parameters can effectively detect stress induced by external disturbances.
• This technology can aid in understanding and mitigating honey bee colony decline.