Monitoring Hive Weight, Temp, and

Sound: The Inside Info and What it Might Mean

Bryan Hains

Antonio Frasconi. Angry Beekeeper.

Special thanks to: •Paul Vonk, Center for Honeybee Research•South Carolina Beekeepers Association•NASA HoneyBeeNet

Thanks to SMBG for Helping to interpret the data!

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Background

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Past4

Past and Present5

About HiveTool.net

• Open-source• Goal is to produce software tools to monitor,

manage and research bees and honey production• Uses off the shelf, consumer grade (low cost)

hardware• All the data is available for download by anyone at

anytime for analysis• Feeds data to NASA’s HoneyBeeNet

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Hive Locations (17)7

The Setup

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Hardware and Software

• IBM Lenovo X60 laptop circa 2006 $90 ebay– 1.6 GHz, 80GB HD, 1GB RAM

– Dual boot windows xp, unix

• Lubuntu lightweight Ubuntu unix free• Adam equipment CPWplus 200 scale $160 amazon• TEMPer2 USB thermoprobe $16 ebay• Kinobo Akiro USB 2.0 microphone $19 amazon• Extension cord $5• USB hub, extender, misc connectors $26• Hivetool software, sox, etc free• Plywood free

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$316 TOTAL PROJECT COST

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Hardware Configuration

Inside Outside

Power120 VAC

Linux-based laptop or Pi

Scale12 VDC RS-232

RS-232 to USBAdapter

TEMPer2 Hive

TEMPer2 Ambient

Microphone Hive

Hive

USB Hub

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Platform(Load cells)

Weatherproof Electronics Enclosure

Controller

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Outside and Inside the Hive12

What the Software Does• At prespecified intervals, crontab:

– Runs shell and perl scripts to capture hive data– Updates graphs– Emails computer status and daily graph– Backs up data and store offsite

• Web pages updated in real time and served to the world

6 am noon 6 pm midnight

Audio samplingWeigh

Email update

Update long graphsArchive data

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System Output14

What Can be Learned?

and

What Does it Mean?

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A Typical Day in the Life16

Broodnest temp

Ambient temp

Hive weight

Midnight Noon Midnight

Example: Pollen vs. Nectar Flow

Data Log Data Log

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Example: Cleansing or Orientation Flight• At around noon on two days (12/27/13, 1/7/14), a sudden drop in

hive weigh was noticed • From a 0.2 lb drop (62.7 – 62.5), a rough estimate of the number of

bees leaving can be calculated; assuming 3000 bees per pound, approximately 600 more bees were flying

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• Is it possible to calculate hive strength and egg laying ability of the queen?

Example: Cleansing or Orientation Flight19

bchains@doppelbienen:2014/03/30 13:40 + 105.2 lb 2014/03/30 13:45 + 105.2 lb 2014/03/30 13:50 + 105.2 lb 2014/03/30 13:55 + 105.1 lb 2014/03/30 14:00 + 105.0 lb 2014/03/30 14:05 + 104.9 lb 2014/03/30 14:10 + 104.7 lb 2014/03/30 14:15 + 104.8 lb 2014/03/30 14:20 + 104.9 lb 2014/03/30 14:25 + 105.0 lb

Example: Robbing?20

Example: Dehydration and Respiration in High Humidity

• From midnight- 8 AM the hive gained weight (~0.2 lb = 3 oz = 90 mL) • Source is probably fog and/or condensation from bee respiration due to

lowered dewpoint

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Example: Rain and Cold Spell22

Example: Growing Colony (Eucalyptus Flow?)

Midnights

Daily

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Example: Untreated Varroa Infestation• Total hive weight is dropping• Treated with half dose MAQS on Sep 15, and Nov 10 – ineffective

Midnights

Daily

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Analysis of Hive Sounds

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Audio Sampling

• Microphone placed in center of broodnest

• Frequency range: 100–16000 Hz

• Sound sampled at 16k Hz for 10 sec, every 2h from 7am-7pm (depending on season)

• 1000 Hz lowpass filter to reduce noise

• Spectrogram updated q 2h on day’s events

• Ogg format used to archive sounds

Charles Butler. 'The feminine monarchie or a treatise concerning bees, and the due ordering of them'. Oxford, 1609. [NLS shelfmark: MRB.13]

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Audio Spectrogram

• “Looking for” queen tooting/piping (350-550 Hz = G sharp), quacking (200-350 Hz), regular buzzing, disturbed sounds, tapping feet

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Audio Example: Circadian Activity

Typical warm and sunny day

7 am 7 pm

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Audio Example: Queen Piping29

Audio Example: Waggle DanceWaggle dance

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Audio Example: Cold Foggy Day31

Audio Example: Raindrops32

What I’ve Learned

• Bees are incredible creatures• Awesome insight can be obtained by simply weighing the

hive• This can be done cheaply• Daily activity varies dramatically per nectar, pollen,

weather• I’m more in touch with my bees, but inside the hive less

• We need more hive monitoring! Join me!

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Bryan Hains bryan.hains@gmail.com

Beebox: http://99.47.64.18:8080/ Doppelbienen: http://99.47.64.18:8081/

Appendix

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Next Steps

• Real-time audio streaming and analysis, email alerting for weight changes (swarming)

• Video quantification of traffic?• Autonomous hive computer:

– Raspberry Pi B: solar, wifi

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Example: Spring Nectar Flow (GA003)

• Adding and removing honey supers is best managed by knowing the beginning and end of nectar flows

• This hive experienced a 90 pound weight gain in just three weeks

Date Day of Year Weight Delta Weight

2012/03/12 72 140.1 1.3

2012/03/14 74 143.2 2.3

2012/03/16 76 133.2 4.7

2012/03/18 78 136.7 3.6

2012/03/20 80 151.1 7.7

2012/03/22 82 159.2 3.3

2012/03/24 84 165.0 2.5

2012/03/26 86 178.0 8.8

2012/03/28 88 189.5 9.1

2012/03/30 90 202.5 4.7

2012/04/01 92 206.5 3.4

2012/04/03 94 210.4 0.9

22 Day Total Weight Gain 89.6

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Example: Untreated Varroa Infestation37

Predictive Mathematical Models

ΔHive Weight = Weight Gain - Weight Loss [1]

Weight Gain = Nectar + Pollen + water + brood growth + bee growth + landings + FOD [2]

Weight Loss = Evaporation + Metabolic activity (respiration) + bee deaths + waste elimination + take offs [3]

Evaporation = (Nectart0)*ER + (Nectart-1)*2/3*ER + (Nectart-2)*1/3*ER [4]

where

Evaporation Rate (ER)

~ (Water Content * Temperature * Wind) Humidity [5]

FOD (Foreign Object or Debris): Rain, animals, branch, rock

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Audio Example: Walking Around?

• Walking around after dark

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Audio Example: Leaf Blower

• Bzzzz

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