One of the most conservative human activities is beekeeping!
Since the invention of the frame hive and honey extractor ~200 years ago, little progress has been made in this area.
This was reflected in the electrification of some processes of pumping (extraction) of honey and the use of winter heating of the hives.
Meanwhile, the world's bee population is declining dramatically - due to climate change, the widespread use of chemistry in agriculture and the fact that we still don't know what bees want?
Mine disappeared for the first reason, and this greatly changed the original concept of the "smart hive"
In fact, the problem of existing projects in this area lies precisely in the fact that the people who create them are not beekeepers, and the latter, in turn, are far from engineering sciences.
And of course, the question of price - the cost of a bee colony is approximately equal to the cost of a simple hive and the price of honey produced by them per season (year).
Now take the price of one of the up-and-coming projects and multiply by the number of hives in a commercial apiary (from 100 and up).
In general, who are interested in the Friday reflections of the beekeeper geek, please under the cut!
My grandfather was an amateur beekeeper - a dozen and a half hives, so I grew up next to the apiary, although I was terribly afraid of bees.
But decades later, I decided to get my own - the bites no longer frightened me, and the desire to have my own hive with honey and bees added determination.
So, below is the design of the most common hive of the Dadan system.
In short, the bees are constantly in the main body and hibernate, the “store” is added during the honey collection period, the liner serves to warm and reduce condensate.
And you know, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t try to invent my own bicycle and put Arduino on it 😉
As a result, I assembled the bodies of the hive of the Varre system (multi-body, frameless - “frame” 300 × 200).
I got bees in the middle of summer, I didn’t want to move them hard to a new home, and they themselves, despite tricks, didn’t want to settle in a new building.
As a result, in September, he abandoned these attempts, gave the necessary complementary foods, insulated the 12-frame Dadan (wall - single-layer pine 40mm - used hive) and left for the winter.
But unfortunately, the alternation of numerous thaws with frosts did not give the bees a chance - even experienced colleagues lost about 2/3 of bee colonies.
As you understand, I did not have time to install the sensors, but I drew the appropriate conclusions.
It was a saying, so what's with the smart hive???
Consider an already existing foreign project - what is good and what is not so:
The main parameters to control here are temperature, humidity, and the weight of the hive.
The latter is relevant only during the honey collection period; humidity is also important only during the active period.
In my opinion, the noise sensor is missing - its intensity, paired with temperature and humidity, can indicate the beginning of swarming.
Let's take a closer look at temperature:
One sensor is relatively informative only in summer, when the bees actively move the air in the space of the hive - they do not allow it to overheat and “evaporate” the water from the honey.
In winter, they huddle into a “ball” with a “diameter” of about 15 cm, fall into a half-sleep and migrate through the combs, eating the honey stored for the winter.
The area of movement in the 12-frame "Dadan" is 40x40x30cm (L-W-H), it is useless to measure the "average temperature in the hospital" under the ceiling.
The extreme minimum, in my opinion, is 4 sensors at a height of 10cm from the top of the frames - in a 20x20cm square.
Humidity - yes, in the liner, electret microphone - where the bees do not cover it with propolis.
Now for the humidity
During the winter, eating honey, the bees release more than 10 liters of moisture!
Do you think it will add health in a Styrofoam hive?
Would you like to live in a house made of such material?
How about honey with toxins?
Styrofoam at a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius releases them oh, how many - it is up to it that the hive is heated inside in the summer.
The walls of the hive should 'breathe' like thermal underwear - optimally - wood - planed from the outside, inside - no - and do not paint in any case!
And finally, how I think to do it:
Remember, at the beginning I talked about the price of the issue?
I put it at the forefront, and therefore, for now, the weight sensor is in the furnace.
Basic set:
Microcontroller - Atmega328P, in sleep mode, power supply for example - crown through dc-dc (no solar panels!).
"Frame" with the device - MC, power supply, 4 temperature sensors, humidity sensor, microphone, external connector for connecting modules.
Extensions:
Indicator based on LCD1602 (can be one for the whole apiary)
Wi-fi / bluetooth - in general, wireless modules for control from a smartphone.
So, gentlemen, I'm interested in your opinion -
- How interesting will the development of this topic be for the Habr community?
- Is it a good idea for a startup?
- Any constructive criticism is welcome!
Andrey, an IT beekeeper, was with you.
Until we meet again on Habré!
UPD Truth is born in disputes, in a discussion on Habr - it is corrected!
I decided on the hardware and methods - the minimum set for one hive (3 parameters - temperature, humidity, noise level) + battery control
battery capacity should be enough in the active season - for a month, in the winter - for 5
PS And yes, infa will be given over WiFi
PPS It remains to make a prototype
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Implementation of the "smart hive". Are you interested in reading articles on the development of this topic?
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Implementation of the "smart hive". Can such a startup take off?
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Source: habr.com