Honey Bee MonitoringProject Pitch to ECE445

Prof. SchmitzSeptember 4, 2013

Outline• The Need• The Constraints

3

Colony Collapse Disorder• Gene Robinson, U of I– http://illinois.edu/lb/article/72/73513

• Varroa Mite/parasites• Pathogens• Nutrition• Pesticides• Bee Space Website– http://www.beespace.illinois.edu/ebeespa

ce/

My Apiary

At the Entrance

Typical Hive Body Stack

•Lid•Inner Cover•Hive Supers•Hive Bodies•Bottom Board

Project#1: Where’s the Queen?

http://basicbeekeeping.blogspot.com

Project#2: How’s the Cluster?

http://basicbeekeeping.blogspot.com

Constraints• Can Not Violate Bee Space– Equipment embedded in hive bodies– Equipment within select frames– Equipment within porous separator

• Rural Locations, Temperature Deviations–No electricity source

• Cost: Commercial and non-Commercial