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Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

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Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#61

Post by amelius »

agumonkey wrote: post #59
amelius wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people do it for fun. Why automate the fun work?

On a smaller scale why not. I attend the forest nearby at times, neighbors do it even more often .. but we can't ensure good care of a whole field set. Even if there were large social efforts for people to gather and maintain nature, we'd still be at the mercy of pest / insects / microscopic life acting at night.

Tech in this field is going very fast. See e.g. [1]. Deep learning can be adapted easily to various tasks.

[1] https://robomechjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s4...

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#62

Post by clutchdude »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #51
clutchdude wrote: post #41

Beekeeper here - Video didn't show many of the aspects a beekeeper has to deal with. "Beehomes use A.I. to identify when a colony could be preparing to swarm, and automatically prevents this event by adjusting conditions. Beekeepers can rest assured that the Beehome has their colonies stay put while they focus on other responsibilities." doesn't sell it. Bees are livestock, not programs. They sometimes decide that it…

Hi fellow beek. > Bees are livestock, not programs. And, having two top-bar hives is not the same as having six apiaries each with hundreds of hives.

Yep - the hobbyist to sideliner to big time is a wide swath of learning and approaches.

One big thing I see as an issue - how does this handle palletization for moving hives across the country?

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#63

Post by frankzander »

HideousKojima wrote: post #38
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.

But from diversity loss (that biodiversity one ;) and pesticides

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#64

Post by agumonkey »

amelius wrote: post #61
agumonkey wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a smaller scale why not. I attend the forest nearby at times, neighbors do it even more often .. but we can't ensure good care of a whole field set. Even if there were large social efforts for people to gather and maintain nature, we'd still be at the mercy of pest / insects / microscopic life acting at night.

Tech in this field is going very fast. See e.g. [1]. Deep learning can be adapted easily to various tasks. [1] https://robomechjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s4...

thanks a lot

ps: I was also thinking about monitoring fungi, microbes etc. (and the usual temp, humidity, acidity)

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#65

Post by clutchdude »

uticus wrote: post #56
clutchdude wrote: post #41

Beekeeper here - Video didn't show many of the aspects a beekeeper has to deal with. "Beehomes use A.I. to identify when a colony could be preparing to swarm, and automatically prevents this event by adjusting conditions. Beekeepers can rest assured that the Beehome has their colonies stay put while they focus on other responsibilities." doesn't sell it. Bees are livestock, not programs. They sometimes decide that it…

first i've heard about hyperthermic, although i have anecdotally heard about benefits of increased humidity. any good links for readup on hyperthermic?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-019-00715-7 - I haven't read it all the way yet.

The reason why it doesn't see more uses is the difficulty to scale it(a beekeeper can't keep a device tied up for 2 hours when they've got 5,10,50,400 hives to manage.

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#67

Post by unfocussed_mike »

Jedd wrote: post #27
unfocussed_mike wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Such are the moving parts prone to jams and stuff like that. They are probably prone to honey rather than jams. /jk Actually the question I most want answered is about materials and environments -- I know hives can start in all sorts of things, but I am wondering about bee health (physical/social) in the context of metal and plastic. Also their material preferences; do bees still need to be persuaded/cajoled to set…

Here in AU, most commercial hive operators are using very basic wooden hives - many aren't even using (metal) mesh bases, which are a common home-scale defence against things like Small Hive Beetle (SHB) because at scale it's a significant cost, both cap-ex and op-ex. In 2015, the Flow Hive guys broke all kinds of kickstarter records with their plastic frame / externally-harvestable hive, though we've had plastic fra…

Thanks -- this is precisely the kind of info-filled reply I was hoping for :-)

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#68

Post by unfocussed_mike »

unfocussed_mike wrote: post #22
progre wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Polystyrene hives are quite common. I'm sure plasic frames exist but I haven't seen them in use.

I don't think I ever want to eat honey again.

(Polystyrene sets my teeth on edge, is why -- I should have explained that better. Buzzing bees in polystyrene... nails on blackboard)

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#69

Post by jpm_sd »

kortex wrote: post #60

Not a beek, but I'm close friends with some, and might actually take the plunge this year. This looks like a classic case of "automating the wrong way" and thinking in terms of agents instead of tools (force multipliers). What beekeepers really benefit from are tools that let them do more work with less effort. Hive lifters are a perfect example [1]. The most popular design has a couple of mechanical flaws that can l…

I'm an electro-mechanical engineer unfamiliar with small farms. How would you change this type of design to be more modular or adaptable?

https://www.overlandcarts.com/

Re: Solar-powered robotic beekeeping

#70

Post by msrenee »

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?

They are definitely an indication of where we're headed if it's been a trend. Is this the first dry March in a while or the dryest March in a series of gradual dryer ones over the poster's lifetime?
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