Automated monitoring of bee colony movement in the hive during winter season

Abstract: In this study, we have experimentally modelled the movement of a bee colony in a hive during the winter season and developed a monitoring system that allows tracking the movement of the bee colony and honey consumption. The monitoring system consists of four load cells connected to the RP2040 controller based on the Raspberry Pi Pico board, from which data is transmitted via the MQTT protocol to the Raspberry Pi 5 microcomputer via a Wi-Fi network. The processed data from the Raspberry Pi 5 is recorded in a MySQL database. The algorithm for finding the location of the bee colony in the hive works correctly, the trajectory of movement based on the data from the sensors repeats the physical movement in the experiment, which is an imitation of the movement of the bee colony in real conditions. The proposed monitoring system provides continuous observation of the bee colony without adversely affecting its natural activities and can be integrated with various wireless data networks. This is a promising tool for improving the efficiency of beekeeping and maintaining the health of bee colonies.