Dr Fiona Edwards Murphy, CEO and Co-founder of ApisProtect, highlighted the importance of using IoT to monitor honey bees: “For the past three years, we have worked side by side with commercial and hobbyist beekeepers in the US and Ireland to develop our remote beehive monitoring system, collating over 15 million data sets.

"As we have seen with smart technology in all elements of our lives, the potential of collating data for improved decision making is transformative. By utilising sensor technology within the beehive, we can provide the beekeeper with data to improve decision making and increase the strength and health of their honey bee colonies.”

The latest European Wide Coloss report highlighted that winter honey bee losses of up to 32% were experienced in Europe. Winter losses can be reduced by ensuring the hive is healthy throughout the year by catching pests and diseases earlier. ApisProtect monitors can remotely monitor hives 24/7 and alert beekeepers to the hives that need their attention the most, thus ensuring colonies are strong and healthy before overwintering. 

The hobbyist version of this Irish designed and manufactured technology is now available exclusively in Ireland for Irish beekeepers prior to a European wide launch later next year. Irish beekeepers have worked with ApisProtect to develop this technology and helped to ensure that this product is robust enough to survive the tough conditions inside the hive.

Kyle Petrie of OpenHive in Dublin is keen to get started with this technology in their beekeeping operation: “We are really excited to be working with ApisProtect this year. This sort of technology is really interesting for us and we’re very much looking forward to getting it in our hands and in turn, into our hives! ”

Not only is this technology helping beekeepers to build strong colonies for honey production, it is also vital for pollination of many food crops. The production of 80% of the 264 crop species cultivated in the EU depends directly on insect pollinators, and the global annual monetary value of pollination is estimated to be €153bn.

Dr Pádraig Whelan, CSO and Co-founder added: “Our technology has the potential to save and even expand the professional beekeeping industry in Europe which makes a significant and vital contribution to crop pollination. European honey bees have provided approximately half of the recorded crop visits in European studies. In a survey of farmers from 10 European countries, 49% indicated that they experienced yield deficits due to inadequate pollination.”

Dr Edwards Murphy added: “The pollination service provided by honey bees overall has a far greater economic and social significance than the sale of apicultural products alone. With the help of our technology, we want to secure the supply of one-third of our diet, and make sure we can nourish and feed the 9.7 billion people on planet earth by 2050."