The monitoring of nectar flow period of honey bees using wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Honey bees are extremely important creatures to humans that are able to pollinate flowers and produce products such as honey, bee pollen, and royal jelly. Honey is the primary product of beekeeping, and the practice of migratory beekeeping is the most profitable beekeeping method carried out by monitoring the nectar sources. Monitoring these nectar sources provides knowledge about the bloom periods of plant species. Using a wireless sensor network, this study aims to monitor the nectar flow in the region that the migratory beekeepers plan to visit. The wireless sensor network developed was tested in a region with a known nectar flow period from June to July. During the test period, the hive weight and ambient temperature and humidity were constantly measured. The real-time data were available via a website. The nectar flow is determined based on the changes in hive weight and these measurements provide the beekeepers with information about the instantaneous, hourly, and daily nectar flow in the specified region.