Other projects

Some resources collected about other bee colony research and beehive monitoring projects.

Note

We have transitioned this section to the community forum at https://community.hiveeyes.org/c/community/other-projects/32. Feel welcome to join us!

Introduction

As our project is not the first one in this field, we would like to share links to other popular projects having similar goals in doing research about environmental issues leading to colony collapse disorder and to make the job of beekeepers easier.

We want to encourage the growth of an open ecosystem based on collaborative best-of-breed efforts while always leaving room for individual setups.

We strongly foster the “standing on the shoulders of giants” philosophy and as our DIY community is still small, nobody should be reinventing the wheel. Some of the projects listed already are building upon the ideas, efforts and technologies of each other.

Have fun browsing this list of great projects, they are listed in order of appearance and categorized into scientific, educational, open source / do-it-yourself and commercial ones. If you know others, don’t hesitate to ping us about them.

The people at http://colonymonitoring.com/ do a similar job by aggregating pointers to both commercial and homemade monitoring solutions.

Scientific and educational projects

Umweltspäher

Prof. Dr. Randolf Menzel and Uwe Greggers are researching about the neurobiology and the behavior of the honeybee and the environmental impact of neonicotinoids on bee colony behavior at the Free University of Berlin. Around since 2000.

HoneyBeeNet

The famous HoneyBeeNet project of NASA inspired many of us with the idea of creating a national data collection network for gaining insights into environmental conditions, nectar flow and bee forage information. Around since 2006. Based/originated in Maryland and Delaware, U.S.

Note

Wayne Esaias authored the very detailed and informative paper Protocol for Scale Hive Measurements of the Honey Bee Nectar Flow

HOBOS - HOneyBee Online Studies

The HOBOS (HOneyBee Online Studies) project is an interactive educational project initiated and developed since 2006 by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Tautz from the University of Würzburg, based in Franconia, northern Bavaria, Germany. After their 10 years of history, they have a large presence, online and in the real world. It is totally worth having a look at it.

Swarmonitor

Swarmonitor is a research project aiming to develop a tool for remote diagnostic monitoring of honey bee hives. The Swarmonitor project aims to develop a tool for diagnostic monitoring of honey bee colonies, by monitoring vibrations in the hive. The Swarmonitor Consortium is made up of beekeeping experts, scientists and experienced manufacturers of hive monitoring equipment from across Europe.

Around since 2015.

Build the Buzz

Build the Buzz is a national Citizen Science project which aims to help understand and address Honey bee decline.

Build the Buzz is a national scientific project using hive monitoring equipment to provide a greater understanding of life within the hive. Through the use of sensitive technology we will be able to monitor honey bee activity 24/7, 365 days a year to have a better understanding life within the hive.

Build the Buzz is a fundraising campaign launched by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) to undertake a national hive monitoring project. All equipment is supplied to the British Beekeepers Association at cost, by Arnia Ltd.

Around since 2016.

Open source / DIY projects

The Bee Laboratory

The Bee Laboratory project monitors the behaviour of honeybees in urban surroundings.

Beekeepers, scientists and artists examine the bee colonies in our rooftop gardens, our open air laboratories. We study the distributed intelligence of the honeybees: their behaviour, ecology and sociobiology. We monitor the bees and beehives with all kinds of eco-technology and we study the colony as a community. We research the interaction between the different colonies as well as the colonies’ behaviour and development in relation to the urban environment.

Around since 2009.

pan.do/ra is a free, open source media archive platform. It allows you to manage large, decentralized collections of video, to collaboratively create metadata and time-based annotations, and to serve your archive as a desktop-class web application.

Hivetool

A great community effort in the U.S, around since 2010. They have currently over 20 hives on-line in California, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina. Their sensor hardware is based on a RaspberryPi.

There’s also an alternative software for use with the HiveTool suite of software:

Projekt “Bienenwaage”

A project from Markus Euskirchen, based in Berlin, Germany. Around since 2011. By using low-cost hive scales and documenting his development efforts in detail, Markus really is one of the founding fathers of a lot of other DIY projects in this field. Clemens Gruber worked together with him in the early days.

Details:

  • The sensor hardware is based on an ATmegaXXX.
  • The telemetry data transfer is based on the RedFly WiFi Shield.
  • The data acquisition backend is based on PHP.

Temperaturüberwachung im Bienenstock

Michael Mietz runs his own temperature monitoring system, in which temperature values are regularly recorded in the honeycomb in a 3D arrangement. Around since 2011.

Beeograph

A project from a team around Petar Denev, based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Around since 2012.

Swarmy

Swarmy helps you to measure sound levels inside your beehives aka a digital apidictor. By James Moore. Around since 2012.

The Bee Observatory

OKNO Bee Monitoring Technology. Around since 2012.

Hivelogger / StephensApiary

Bee hive monitoring through advanced telemetry applications and systems by Stephen Engel, based in Sacramento, California, U.S. Around since 2013.

BeeLab Citizen Science Project

The Bee Lab project aims to use the power of technology and Open Design to enhance the practice of beekeeping – making it easier for beekeepers to care for bees in today’s unpredictable environmental landscape. Using the principles of Open Design, we are bringing together a community of passionate, multi-disciplinary people to create customisable monitoring

Around since 2014. Seems abandoned or didn’t even take off.

Honeybee Hive Monitoring (Hackerbee.com)

The goal of this project is to build a system that records data from a beehive at roughly 5 minute intervals for later analysis. Data will include temperature, humidity and weight of a beehive as well as temperature, rainfall and other data from a weather station.

By Ken Meyer. Around since 2014.

See also

Arduino Beehive monitor

An Arduino, GSM shield, solar powered bee hive monitor that sends temperature and humidity data to the Xively platform

By Marc Curtis. Around since 2014.

Stockwaage from Imkerverein Nettetal e. V.

A project from Alexander Wilms, based in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Around since 2015. It’s a kind of a fork of the Projekt “Bienenwaage” as Alexander was in contact with Markus Euskirchen, so both projects share similar hardware and software components.

Details:

  • The sensor hardware is based on an ATmegaXXX.
  • The telemetry data transfer is based on the RedFly WiFi Shield.
  • The data acquisition backend is based on check_mk.

BeeLogger

Markus Hies built a sensor node based on a Raspberry-Pi SoC computer. Around since 2015.

The Hive Project

A RaspberryPi based project using the “Pi Noir” infrared-sensitive camera. Around since 2015.

Computer vision bee counter

Counts bees in and bees out of a beehive.

A RaspberryPi/PiCamera based solution by Antoine Letouzey. Takes a video input of a top-down view of the beehive entrance and uses the Munkres algorithm for CV crunching. Around since 2015.

See also

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=109316&p=822342, which shares some video recordings of 2015: https://www.raspberrypi.org/files/bees/

BienenBoxWaage

DIY project by M. Kögel. Around since 2015.

Arduino Datenlogger mit Stockwaage für Imker

A project from Raimund und Thorsten Gurzan, based in Lower Rhine region in Germany. Around since 2015. They have great, detailed documentation for the whole system.

Details:

  • The sensor hardware is based on an ATmega328.
  • The telemetry data transfer is flexible: Ethernet, WiFi or over radio links (433 MHz, 2.4 GHz).
  • The data acquisition backend is PHP.

Hiverize

Hiverize is a network for cooperative beekeeping and saving the bees. Founded by Carolin Zschippig and her team, based in the Free and Hanseatic City of Bremen. Around since 2015.

4Bees

4Bees is an open platform founded by Mag. Dieter Metzler for innovative beekeepers and developers to develop products that improve the quality of life of bees and beekeepers. Based in Alberschwende, Austria. Around since 2015.

beam-it / Frank Hartmann

Frank is developing beehive monitoring tools and is using hardware from Clemens. Around since 2015.

Geek4Bee

A great autonomous beehive monitoring project by Tomas Ivansky of Zoongo Ltd. also using the Seeeduino Stalker as sensor node platform, while currently looking at the Sodaq Autonomo. Around since 2016.

Tomas also shares his firmware on GitHub, cheers!

Imker Stockwaage

A project from Achim Pfaff, based in Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. Around since 2016.

Details:

  • The sensor hardware is based on an ATmega168.
  • The telemetry data transfer is based on an Itead 3G GSM modem.

Moonahbees Hive Monitor

A group of apiaries distributed around the Port Phillip Bay region of Victoria. Around since 2016.

The BEEP platform

A collaborative project by Marten Schoonman and Pim van Gennip building an ergonomic data entry app for beekeeping (aka. Elektronische Stockkarte) and a monitoring system. Around since 2016.

Other resources

They have started a crowdfunding campaign under the umbrella of Stichting Beelease in February 2017: http://www.beelease.nl/wp/beep-2/

Save the Bees

A firmware for sensor reading aimed at beehive monitoring. The project is sponsored by Cisco, relayr and CSIRO for understanding bee colony collapse using IOT.

Around since 2016.

Commercial projects

CAPAZ GSM 200 Bienenwaage

Professional hive scale system from CAPAZ GmbH, based in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Around since 2004.

BeeWise

A hive scale product and monitoring solution from a french manufacturer. Around since 2007.

Penso Bienenstock Wägesysteme

Professional hive scale systems from Martin Steppuhn and his team of Emsystech Engineering, based in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Around since 2009.

BeeWatch

Professional hive scale systems from Biene & Natur GmbH, based in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria, Germany. Around since 2011.

Hive Tracks

Hive Tracks from Dr. James Wilkes of Blowing Rock Software LLC and his team builds innovative beekeeping software. Based in North Carolina, U.S. Around since 2011.

HiveSensors

HiveSensors from Arizona, U.S. offers compact wireless environmental hive sensors for use in experimental bee research. Around since 2011.

Arnia

Arnia builds state of the art remote hive monitoring systems. Based in Northumberland, England. Around since 2012.

Bee Smart Technologies

Bee Smart™ is a remote diagnostic and monitoring station for any bee hive. The device collects vital health and productivity information by collecting in-hive temperature and humidity, analyzing the sound in the hive and tracking the change in weight. Bee Smart™ also tracks movement and informs beekeepers if their hives are displaced. The system acts as a real-time medical record for any bee colony. Bee Smart™ saves time, makes operations smoother, brings down costs and may help increase yield.

Bee Smart Technologies Inc. was founded by Ivan Kanev and Sergey Petrov. Based in San Francisco, CA. Around since 2012.

Hivemind

Hivemind is an industry-leading product for keeping track of your hives in remote locations. The company builds remote hive weight measurement solutions for beekeepers with satellite uplinks for transmitting telemetry data. Based in Christchurch, New Zealand as a spin-off of Brush Technology. Around since 2013.

Bienenstockwaage from Wolf-Waagen

Professional hive scale system from Wolf-Waagen based in Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany. Around since 2013.

SolutionBee Beehive Monitoring System

Solutionbee LLC, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A. Around since 2013.

Solutionbee experts have decades of experience in designing and manufacturing communicating measurement products and systems used in outdoor environments involving extreme temperature and humidity in rugged conditions.

Solutionbee delivers the highest quality beehive monitoring system in the industry. Our reliable, user friendly solutions enable both hobbyist and commercial beekeepers alike to optimize beekeeping operations. Our dedicated support team stands ready to assist in the set-up, maintenance, and use of the system to ensure you realize maximum value from your investment.

SmartBee Controllers

The SmartBee Control System is a real-time, remote-access solution for your greenhouse or grow room, monitored and controlled from the palm of your hand! Simply configure your environmental set points, and the SmartBee Controller’s “smart logic” process detects problems, sends an alert, and automatically takes corrective steps to prevent and resolve critical grow room events!

Wirelessly Networked Monitor & Control Solution by Swarm Technologies, based in the U.S. Around since 2014.

Optibee

A beehive monitoring system by CAD Création, based in Puyoô, France. Around since 2014.

optilog-b Bienenstockwaage / Beehive scale XLOG bee

Professional hive scale system. A joint-venture project of Borntraeger GmbH based in Hesse, Germany and Micro El based in Zagreb, Croatia. Around since 2014/2015.

Bee Certain

Wireless Hive Monitoring System from Bob Barter of Bee Certain, LLC, based in Waldport, Oregon. Awesome engineering, published many details. Around since 2015.

It looks like Bob is also using Grafana for data visualization.

SmartHives BeeControlled

Smarthives is an online system, that supports beekeepers, who with the apiculture sector as well, gains significant benefits and progression in the everyday apicultural works. The system consists of an online interface and the sensors, which are connected to it.

By György Wágner Senior and Junior, Görgy Fülöp, Gábor Kollár and Milán Bartalovics, based in Hungary. Around since 2015.

Label Abeille

Bee Label, the connected beehive: a complete beekeeping monitoring system from an organisation based in Fleury-Les-Aubrais, France. Around since 2015.

Smart Hives

The beehive has remained nearly unchanged in 100 years. With the plight of the bees becoming a major concern we have developed a hive that aims to bring beekeeping to the masses. Waste pallets create the structure that is lined with wood fibre insulation to reduce the impact of the cold winter months on bee numbers. Working in collaboration with a technology company it has integrated scales, thermometer and humidity sensing equipment linked to the internet to check and monitor the hive remotely. Over 50 hives have been distributed across the country aiming to make the life for both bee and beekeeper easier.

By Something & Son. Around since 2015.

EyesOnHives

Computer vision based Bee Hive Health Monitoring anytime anywhere. EyesOnHives is a camera and data platform for beekeepers researchers & citizen scientists.

By Keltronix Inc., based in Santa Barbara. Around since 2015.

APiS Technology

APiS Technology is a Portuguese startup based in Aveiro, that research, develop and sells products for sector of beekeeping. Bees are and always have been our passion. Our goal is to improve the way beekeepers take care of theirs. APIS Technology is the result of three years of development towards a solution that helps both bees and beekeepers. We are a multidisciplinary team with experience in electronic and software engineering, management and product design.

Based in Aveiro, Portugal. Around since 2015.

WE GRO Funk Bienenstockwaage

Professional yet affordable hive scale system of WE GRO Engineering founded by Uwe Grotz based in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Around since 2016.

Wi-Fi Hive Scale

From O’Keefe Electronics Inc. based in Ohio, U.S. Around since 2016?

Blazer

Blazer Technologies Ltd. is a company dedicated to using high tech hardware and software to save bees and digitize beekeeping. Based in Dublin, Ireland. Around since 2016.

BEEing B Secure

Movement detection, and beehive tracking. Protects against floods, thefts and natural events. Around since 2016.

BeeAndMe

Make the traditional beekeeping industry easier with tailormade hardware and software solutions. By Elma Hot and Alija Dervic, based in Vienna, Austria and Podgorica, Montenegro. Around since 2016.

Apivox Auditor

This is a mobile application, for Android OS smartphones, which main task is - to turn your smartphone into a control and measuring instrument that allows you to receive and interpret acoustic data of bee colony, in order to understand its condition. Moreover, it allows obtaining and analyzing these data quickly and with a minimum effort. The application in its work, uses all possibilities of smartphone as a portable computer, which can collect and process data. The device receives acoustic data from the built-in microphone, or wired microphone or Bluetooth headset operating in a microphone mode. APIVOX AUDITOR was created in collaboration between engineers and beekeepers, so it provides the configuration and functions that reduce errors and distortions of measurement results on the one hand, and makes the use of device simple and effective for beekeepers on the other. ​

Around since 2016.

Tip

There’s a nice article Was moderne Bienenstockwaagen heute alles können (German) about state-of-the-art professional hive scale systems from German manufacturers. It was published in the March 2016 edition of the magazine ADIZ/die biene/Imkerfreund, see also http://www.diebiene.de/bienenstockwaagen-im-vergleich.