Bee Hive Activity Monitoring System
Principal Investigator: Nuri Emanetoglu (UMaine, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Partners: Herbert Aumann (UMaine, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering)and Francis Drummond (UMaine, School of Biology and Ecology)
Abstract: A Doppler radar based bee hive activity monitoring system is proposed as an early-warning tool against colony collapse disorder (CCD). Bees pollinate up to 80% of US crops, including blueberries and other crops in Maine. The last decade has seen an increasing rate of colony collapse disorder, which refers to worker bees abandoning a hive and leaving behind the queen to starve. Current bee hive monitors are either expensive, need to be built into the hive, or both. An inexpensive and portable beehive activity monitoring system would benefit both bee researchers and commercial and hobbyist beekeepers. Proof-of-concept experiments were carried out in summer 2016 to show that a Doppler radar based system could be used to determine bee activity levels, which were correlated to time of day, weather conditions and bee colony size. A rigorous study covering five or more hives of different size and health with will demonstrate the validity of this approach and position the team for an MTI or NSF I-Corps type proposal. Support for an undergraduate research assistant is requested. This student will help construct and deploy 10.5 GHz Doppler radar based beehive monitoring units at Rogers farm. At least five hives of different colony size and health will be monitored during the summer of 2017. Results will be correlated with beekeeper observations and weather data during the academic year of 2017-2018 and a second generation prototype will be designed. The undergraduate assistant will present their findings at the 2018 UMaine Student Symposium and the 2018 Northeast Agricultural and Biological Engineers Conference.