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Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

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Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#31

Post by Gasp0de »

jsiepkes wrote: post #16
Gys wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We currently cater exclusively to the North American market. We plan on expanding our reach within the next few months. > We currently cater exclusively to Commercial Beekeepers managing 1,000 beehives and above. Genuine question: are you within their target market? I guess only a commercial honey maker would be?

> Genuine question: are you within their target market? I guess only a commercial honey maker would be? No just interested in the technical side of the product. Though I would love to buy one with some friends and run it if they would ever start selling to consumers.

Would you be willing to put out 40$/mo with your 10 friends though? The product seems super expensive in my (totally unprofessional) opinion.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#32

Post by kkfx »

Gasp0de wrote: post #14

So according to Google one Beehive can produce 20-30kg of honey per year. For the 24 beehives in this machine that would be 720kg of honey max, selling for around 10€ per kg in Germany. That would make a maximum of 7200€ in one year, while the machine costs 4800$/year plus 2000 for delivery in the first year. Additionally, the Beekeeper has to retrieve, package and sell the honey. I don't see this machine reaching pr…

IMVHO the real point is another, that's just an experiment to see if and how we can change agriculture. The point is can we automate agriculture in a way to run on solar in a semi-autonomous way?

If so berry-picking robots, these etc are just test pilot. Surely so far they are too costly, as any new thing, but if they prove to be reliable and usable enough things might change.

We already have a certain dose of tech in agriculture but that's not good tech (cloud-bound by choice of the vendor, abusing the mean ignorance of their customers) but not something like "hey can we get rid of tractors and still be productive?", "can we farm poultry in automated fashion?", "can we harvest various crops in autonomous semi-self-sustainable ways?".

We are probably 20 years behind, but we must start from something in a world who really lack public research...

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#33

Post by notum »

adamdusty wrote: post #30
mstipetic wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are fucked anyways. In my area we just had no rain for more than a month (where usually there should be 12 rainy days) with basically drought coming - nobody even noticed, they were busy with more important things I guess

Local weather stories hardly mean we're fucked. It snowed and hailed in Tucson yesterday. Does that mean we're all saved?

Why yes, yes it does. Thank you sweet baby Jesus! I'm off to grab a candy bar from my bug-out bag.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#34

Post by mstipetic »

adamdusty wrote: post #30
mstipetic wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are fucked anyways. In my area we just had no rain for more than a month (where usually there should be 12 rainy days) with basically drought coming - nobody even noticed, they were busy with more important things I guess

Local weather stories hardly mean we're fucked. It snowed and hailed in Tucson yesterday. Does that mean we're all saved?

It's not about the weather, it's about how detached we are from the world

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#35

Post by ct0 »

Im surprised this isnt getting the same level of push back as the flowhive did in bee keeping communities. The flowhive simply makes extracting honey easier, you can literally leave the flowhive on the brood box and pour out honey. Its very nice for someone who doesnt want to pull frames and use an extractor, which is tough work. People would say its not real bee keeping and worried about spreading problems to other colonies.

This "does" everything but I am confident it can't replace a real bee keeper somewhere in the chain. Ive had issues with hives that are unrelated to pests that have slowed down the production of brood, for example a new queen mated but never started laying eggs. Would this device notify the land owner of that? Most likely not.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#36

Post by seanc »

drewm1980 wrote: post #5

How does this control varoa? One of the arguments against domesticated honey bees is that they not only take food from but also spread disease to wild honey bee populations. The more diseased the domestic ated bees get the more hives keepers build to compensate, compounding the problem.

In the FAQ they say they heat the frame to a temperature which "harms the varroa but does not harm the brood". IANABK, but color me skeptical.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#37

Post by mattferderer »

femto wrote: post #19
Gasp0de wrote: post #14

So according to Google one Beehive can produce 20-30kg of honey per year. For the 24 beehives in this machine that would be 720kg of honey max, selling for around 10€ per kg in Germany. That would make a maximum of 7200€ in one year, while the machine costs 4800$/year plus 2000 for delivery in the first year. Additionally, the Beekeeper has to retrieve, package and sell the honey. I don't see this machine reaching pr…

Beekeepers also make money by renting out hives for pollination? Edit: Found an interesting article: https://theconversation.com/the-farmer-wants-a-hive-inside-t... To quote: "Alternatively, crop growers can buy their own hives and set them up permanently, eliminating the cost of rental and reducing the pressure on honeybees used for pollination services. However, this comes at its own cost. Growers need to maintain…

You might also enjoy this rabbit hole of bee thieves across California - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/22/beekeepers-c...

Interestingly enough, across the Midwest US, beekeepers tend to give farmers a case of honey if the farmers allow them to put bee hives on their land.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#38

Post by HideousKojima »

progre wrote: post #21

Sidetrack: I think the focus on domesticated bees as pollinators is dangerous. If wild polinators can't survive we are fucked even if we have bees.

There are solitary bees (leafcutter bees, carpenter bees, etc.) that can still pollinate and who do not suffer from colony collapse.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#39

Post by WaitWaitWha »

Gasp0de wrote: post #14

So according to Google one Beehive can produce 20-30kg of honey per year. For the 24 beehives in this machine that would be 720kg of honey max, selling for around 10€ per kg in Germany. That would make a maximum of 7200€ in one year, while the machine costs 4800$/year plus 2000 for delivery in the first year. Additionally, the Beekeeper has to retrieve, package and sell the honey. I don't see this machine reaching pr…

Depending where I put my hives, I can make 30 to 60lbs of honey with my "100 year old wooden box" technology.

My ladies do not like "unnatural" (i.e. mostly plastic, metal) things. They will cover it with propolis quickly. They also do not seem to like electricity or odd magnetic fields, and things that constantly hum, like transformers.

The listed things that the robot supposedly is doing (feeding, watering, treat illness & pests, harvest honey, prevent swarming, splitting & combining) are very inconsistent depending on my queens, hive to hive. Much of it is done by the hive herself. The rest is so cheap to do, it is but an a few hours per year per hive.

It is not profitable to spend $57600/year for (looks like) 28 hives. It is also seems to be going the John Deere route with the equipment. No thank you.

And, the "bees are dying, the bees are dying!" is becoming tiresome.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#40

Post by boredumb »

The price tag is quite steep, but I really do love the idea and hope that more technology and thought is put into beekeeping. For anyone on the fence about raising bees, just do it - it was one of my favorite projects I've had the opportunity to participate in and is one of the most fascinating things to witness up close.
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