Monitoring Hive Weight,
Temp, and Sound:
The Inside Info and
What it Might Mean
Bryan Hains
Antonio Frasconi. Angry Beekeeper.
2
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
4
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
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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
bryan.hains@gmail.com
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