Challenges in the development of Precision Beekeeping

Abstract

Precision Beekeeping (PB), a sub-branch of Precision Agriculture, is an apiary management strategy based on the monitoring of individual bee colonies to minimise resource consumption and maximise the productivity of bees. Although there are sufficient technical means and industrial products for the practical execution of PB, the process is slow due to the differing states of development of three implementation phases: data collection, data analysis and application. The technical execution, adequacy of earlier and current solutions and development perspectives are analysed to prioritise different challenges for PB. The development of decision support systems, which is usually a stumbling block in Precision Agriculture, is suggested to be a mid-term task. In the long term, specific DSS-controlled electronic devices should be developed to enable new functionalities for PB. Specific classes of actors are proposed to operate within future PB systems for the automatic execution of suggestions made by decision support systems, as well as for diagnostic purposes. PB systems should be optimised by searching for appropriate combinations of different sensors, and corresponding decision support systems must provide convenient, reliable and cost efficient solutions. The development and specification of PB systems should consider business interests, distance to the apiary, expected risks and other peculiarities. • Development of data collection, data analysis and application phases is considered. • Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a mid-term task for Precision Beekeeping (BP). • New classes of DSS controlled remote electronic devices are suggested. • Industrial experiments are needed to estimate the economic effects of PB systems. • Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed for new counterintuitive PB solutions.