Apiculturists’ issues and challenges: a basis for invoking IT model in beekeeping industry

Abstract

The most significant activity of honey bees, as far as advantages to people, is their pollination of natural vegetation. Bees and other pollinators seem to be declining globally. Beekeeping in the Philippines is a thriving industry that perfectly matches the natural landscape of the country. The goal of this study was to define the challenges and issues of Apiculturists in the Philippines where-in an IT approach was formulated to address these issues. Up to now, there is no initiative Information Technology approach in the beekeeping industry in the Philippines. Design thinking has been used as methodology in this study. Several challenges and issues were determined, and it is stated that the main problem to be addressed in order for the bee colonies to have a longer lifespan is its Apiary Location, an IT solution via Drone Technology with a Computer Vision approach was proposed named as Apiary Locator. A proposed framework of the Apiary Locator has been prepared. It is then recommended for the Apiary Locator to be developed as it shall benefit the apiculturists of the Philippines. Also, it will be a basis for developing IT solutions for the Beekeeping industry.