Application of information technologies in Precision Apiculture
Final report
Application of information technologies in Precision ApicultureCall: ICT and Automation for a Greener Agriculture
Id: 14301
Acronym: ITApic
Duration:
Tuesday, 2 May, 2017
Consortium:
| No | Partner | Contact | Country | Total 1000€ | Funded 1000€ | Funder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Coord. | Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies | Aleksejs Zacepins | Latvia | 132.0 | 132.0 | Latvian Academy of Science |
| 2 | Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics Faculty of Science & Art Faculty of Agriculture Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Gaziosmanpasa University | Saban Tekin | Turkey | 93.8 | 93.8 | Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey |
| 3 | Department of Agricultural Engineering Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences University of Kassel | Oliver Hensel | Germany | 197.0 | 197.0 | Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture |
| 4 | Signal Processing and Control Group Electronics and Computer Engineering Division of Mechanical Engineering Department of Engineering Aarhus School of Engineering Aarhus University | Peter Ahrendt | Denmark | 167.9 | 122.5 | Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education Ministry of Higher Education and Science |
Main results:
During the project different bee colony monitoring devices was developed and tested. They included one-wire temperature monitoring system, wireless temperature system, audio and video monitoring systems. Together with hardware also software for data collection and analysis was developed. Based on collected data, several bee colony state identification (swarming, brood rearing, broodless) algorithms was developed. Decision support system for early detection of colony state change was also developed. During the project guidelines for Precision Beekeeping implementation and Smart apiary management was introduced. During the project also effectiveness and sustainability of specific bee colony wintering building was evaluated. Project results are summarized in various scientific publications.
Exploitation:
Project results can be used by scientists and by beekeepers for development of advanced smart apiary monitoring systems. Results shows some advantages and disadvantages of different bee colony monitoring systems and methods. Smart apiary management cannot be done without application of information and communication technologies, but each individual beekeeper should define what systems he needs most. Smart apiary management should minimize the manual inspection of colonies, and maximize the colony health. Project results can be considered as a knowledge base for further improvement of the Precision Beekeeping.
Publications:
Dissemination:
Project results was disseminated in various ways. Information about the project was shown in project and partner organisation homepages. Project partners participated in different scientific conferences and congresses with oral and poster presentations.
Illustrations:
Approved:
1
Proposal summary:
This project proposes implementation of precision agriculture technologies and methods in the beekeeping. Precision agriculture approach is adapted for beekeeping based on the various measurements of individual bee colonies all year around thus detecting different states of colonies and apiaries enabling rapid reaction by the beekeeper in case of necessity. Digital measurements such as temperature, humidity, audio and video can be used to detect several states of a bee colony: swarming, broodless stage, brood rearing, illness. Lots of separated scientific research has been done with this techniques related to bee biology, but they have never been combined to develop a apicultural health observation and warning system.