Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

Measuring vibrations to study bee behaviour (2/2)

European honeybee colonies establish themselves in natural and man-made dark cavities and cannot usually be seen unless the beekeeper inspects the hive by opening it invasively. Although the traffic of bees at the entrance of nests gives an indication of their statuses, in the wintertime all foraging can cease for weeks or even months, and it is not even possible to tell whether the colony is alive or dead. In the past, many beekeepers have been simply knocking on their hives, with their hand, to check and listen for a positive buzzing response, indicating the liveliness of the colony.
In a recent study, B-GOOD members from TNTU aimed to provide a method to test the physiological status of hives by providing them with a gentle, short, external artificial vibrational shockwave, and recording their response. The knock was provided by an external electromagnetic shaker attached to the outer wall of a hive, and bee colony’s responses was recorded by an accelerometer placed in the middle of the central frame of the colony. To avoid habituation, the stimulus was supplied at randomised times, approximately every hour. The method was first tested on a single colony hosted indoors, then extended onto eight outdoors colonies. The results of this study show that it is possible to quantitatively sense the colony’s overall mobility, and that a colony that is queen-less is easily discriminated from the others, paving the way towards the use of this technique to help quick assessment of colony statuses with minimal disturbance.
Source Project
Giving Beekeeping Guidance by cOmputatiOnal-assisted Decision making (B-GOOD)
Ongoing | 2019-2023
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
Belgium
Project details

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