Hive monitoring for greenhouses

Most hive monitors are made for beekeepers: they weigh honey, track brood temperature and warn about swarming. In a greenhouse the question is different. You rent or buy bee or bumblebee colonies to pollinate a crop, and what you need to know is whether each colony is flying, visiting flowers and worth keeping. That is what HiveNode hive monitoring is built for.

What the HiveNode measures

• Flights in and out. Light gates in the entrance count every bee or bumblebee flying out and coming back, per hive, per hour.
• Climate at the hive. Temperature and humidity at the entrance, so you can see when heat or damp slows a colony down.
• Light and spectrum. How much light, and which colours, reach the hive, including the effect of screens and lamps.
• Sound of the colony. A short recording every few minutes, reduced on the node to sound level and frequency bands. Raw audio never leaves the hive.
• Optional: air quality. As an extension, the HiveNode also measures CO2, CO and VOC at the hive, for example to see when the crop has been sprayed or fogged.

Alerts when a colony slows down

HiveWatcher compares each hive with what you would expect for the time of day and the conditions, and with the other hives in the section. When a colony flies less than it should, you get an alert by email or text message, so you can check that hive or replace it before fruit set suffers. Read more: is my bumblebee hive still active?

Close hives remotely before spraying

The HiveNode has two motorised gates. From the HiveWatcher portal you close the exit of one hive or a whole section before a treatment, while returning foragers can still get in. The gates open again by themselves after the time you set, up to four hours, so no colony stays locked in. Read: crop protection and bee or bumblebee colonies

Built for the greenhouse

• Works with bee and bumblebee hives from any supplier.
• Wireless over long range through glass, steel and dense crops; measurements are stored on the node if the connection drops, so nothing is lost.
• Encrypted and signed data, with a key per node.
• Set up on site with the HiveWatcher app.

Part of HiveWatcher

The HiveNode is one part of the HiveWatcher pollination monitoring system. The BeeNode in the crop counts flower visits, and the portal shows hives, flowers, climate and light together per greenhouse and per section. See how HiveWatcher works and the guide to improving pollination in the greenhouse.