The Development of an Efficient System to Monitor the Honeybee Colonies Depopulations

Abstract

The world of honeybees (A. mellifera) are facing dramatic changes. Since the late 1990s, beekeepers around the world have observed mysterious and sudden disappearance of bees, and reported unusually high rates of decline in honeybee colonies. In the same time, the numerous studies show also a decline of other pollinators’ populations. The main causes seldom incriminated are climate change, pesticide use, habitat loss, parasites, but looking at real issues leading to honeybees’ populations reduction, but some french studies show that major problems are pesticides (52%), Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), other diseases and pests (i.e. Varroa destructor) (32%), weather (16%), thief (10%). Taking into account that honeybees are a very good environmental biosensor, the development of an advanced electronic system that assess the development of population status at any moment of the season is very important for environmental quality evaluation and for beekeeping management, to evaluate the risks and prevent depopulation phenomenon. Therefore, the present study aims to develop a unique connected advanced solution for beehives to give direct information to beekeepers on pesticide contamination suspicion, hornet attack detector, swarming signals and thief alarm. Two major features, as compared to market competitors, were developed on the new system: a device to count forager bees, therefore get many information about the entrance traffic of honeybees and an advanced sound analysis to detect hornet, but also other signals connected with specific physiological status of honeybee colonies.