In a farming community in Galilee, an Israeli start-up has built robotic hives that monitor bees 24 hours and reduce the mortality of these large pollinators, guarantors of food security.
“There are two million bees here”, says Shlomki Frankin entering a white container of 12 square meters, placed in the middle of an avocado field in Kibbutz Bet Haemek, in northern Israel.
The container called “Beehome” can house 24 hives, this farmer from explains to AFP years, equipped with a hat with a veil to protect against possible stings.
Hives managed by a robot
These houses of a bejas work like normal wooden hives, if it weren’t for the fact that they are managed by a robot placed inside, that watches over the insects, controls their habitat and takes care of their care, explains Frankin, an employee of the Beewise society at the origin of this invention.
During a control visit, the farmer observes the electrical device that moves through the center of the buzzing box and removes a honeycomb where the bees.
“The robot is equipped with sensors that allow it to know what is happening inside the honeycomb“, explains to AFP Netaly Harari, director of Beewise operations.
“Thanks to artificial intelligence, our program knows what the bees need”, he says in the workshop where these large metal hives are assembled.
Nutrient distribution, temperature regulation and honey extraction
The robot can also distribute automatically sugar, water or medicines. If there are problems, it alerts the beekeeper through an application and he can decide whether to intervene remotely from his computer or come in person.
The hive, which works with solar energy , it can also regulate the temperature, eliminate noise and extract the honey thanks to an integrated blendera, says Netaly Harari.
The company may start producing honey at from the end of May, the “world’s first honey manufactured with artificial intelligence”, claims Harari.
For Shlomki Frankin, “the robot is a tool for the beekeeper, but it does not replace it.”
“I can perform many simple tasks remotely, such as widening or reducing the hive (…) or leaving the robot to do that and concentrate on other tasks”, which allows “to save a lot of time”, he explains.
Beehives could soon enter the European market
One cent nar of these robotic hives have already been installed in Israel and another ten in the United States. Beewise contemplates entering the European market in a couple of years.
In April, the company created in 2018, which already has more than 100 employees, collected 80 million dollars from investors to develop their exports.
According to Professor Sharoni Shafir, who directs the bee study center of the Hebrew University of Rehovot, technology can help protect the colonies of these increasingly fragile insects.
“Sometimes, a beekeeper takes several months to realize of a problem. With the robot, we can deal with the problem in real time, which reduces bee mortality“, he tells AFP.
In recent years, many specimens have disappeared in the world, victims of the “colony collapse syndrome”, attributed to the combination of several factors.
“The decrease in flower fields under the effect of construction has reduced the sources and diversity of bee feeding“, explains the expert.
To this must be added the use of pesticides, diseases and parasites such as varroa destructor, a devastating mite, he lists.
“In Israel, between the 20 and the 30 % of the hives disappear each year”, warns Shafir. And “we depend on bees”, he says, recalling that a significant part of human nutrition results from the pollination that these insects guarantee and that allow the reproduction of plants.
More than 70 % of crops (almost all fruits, vegetables, oilseeds and protein crops, spices, coffee and cocoa) depend heavily on these animals.
“Bees and other pollinators are essential for food security and nutrition”, summarizes the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which celebrates the 20 in May on World Bee Day to highlight the importance of their conservation.
Read more:
Hispanic in Texas killed by a giant swarm of “vulture” bees while trimming a tree “Don Matteo”, possible successor of Pope Francis due to his health problems
WHO explains what monkeypox is, how it spreads, who is at risk and how to protect yourself