Monitoring Hive Weight, Temp, and Sound: The Inside Info and What it Might Mean Bryan Hains
Antonio Frasconi. Angry Beekeeper.
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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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Past
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Past and Present
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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)
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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 Adam equipment CPWplus 200 scale TEMPer2 USB thermoprobe Kinobo Akiro USB 2.0 microphone Extension cord USB hub, extender, misc connectors Hivetool software, sox, etc Plywood
free $160 amazon $16 ebay $19 amazon $5 $26 free free ======
$316 TOTAL PROJECT COST
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Hardware Configuration Inside
Outside
Hive
Weatherproof Electronics Enclosure Linux-based laptop or Pi
TEMPer2 Ambient
USB Hub
1 RS-232 to USB Adapter
2 3 4
Power 120 VAC
Scale 12 VDC RS-232
TEMPer2 Hive
Controller
Microphone Hive Platform (Load cells)
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Outside and Inside the Hive
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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 Update long graphs Archive data Email update
6 am
Weigh
noon
Audio sampling
6 pm
midnight
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System Output
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What Can be Learned? and What Does it Mean?
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A Typical Day in the Life Broodnest temp
Hive weight
Ambient temp
Midnight
Noon
Midnight
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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
• Is it possible to calculate hive strength and egg laying ability of the queen?
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Example: Cleansing or Orientation Flight 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
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Example: Robbing?
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 Spell
Example: Growing Colony (Eucalyptus Flow?) Daily
Midnights
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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 Daily
Midnights
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Analysis of Hive Sounds
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Audio Sampling •
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• • •
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 Piping
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Audio Example: Waggle Dance Waggle dance
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Audio Example: Cold Foggy Day
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Audio Example: Raindrops
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!
Bryan Hains
[email protected]
Beebox: http://99.47.64.18:8080/ Doppelbienen: http://99.47.64.18:8081/
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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 Infestation
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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 [3] + waste elimination + take offs
Evaporation
= (Nectart0)*ER + (Nectart-1)*2/3*ER + (Nectart-2)*1/3*ER
[4]
where Evaporation Rate ~ (Water Content * Temperature * Wind) (ER) Humidity
FOD (Foreign Object or Debris): Rain, animals, branch, rock
[5]
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Audio Example: Walking Around? • Walking around after dark
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Audio Example: Leaf Blower • Bzzzz
