Research library

Application of continuous monitoring of honeybee colonies

Foundational open-access Apidologie review of continuous honeybee-colony monitoring using weight, temperature, humidity, respiratory gases, vibration, sound, and forager traffic sensors.

Publication details

Authors
William G. Meikle, Niels Holst
Organizations
🇺🇸 USDA Agricultural Research Service🇩🇰 Aarhus University
Year
2015
Type
Review

PDF

Abstract

Monitoring physical variables associated with honeybee colonies—including weight, temperature, humidity, respiratory gases, vibration, sound, and forager traffic—continuously has become feasible as electronic sensors become cheaper, smaller, more precise, and higher-capacity. The review examines different kinds of colony-monitoring data and analyses, giving researchers better-informed options for extracting information on colony behaviour and phenology in the field without disturbing the hive. It also discusses combining different sensor types to obtain a more complete picture of colony status, with brief coverage of wireless sensor networks and powering sensors.

Relevancy to Gratheon

This foundational review anchors Gratheon's monitoring-platform work in the core principle of non-invasive, continuous colony observability. Many newer papers focus on one modality or model, but this review explains why weight, temperature, humidity, gases, vibration, sound, and traffic need to be interpreted together. It is useful for product requirements, sensor-roadmap decisions, and communicating to beekeepers why Gratheon emphasizes longitudinal trends and multi-sensor context over one-off measurements.