We, the people heavily depend on the various ecosystems and their relative functions. The enormous list of pollinators provides unexpected advantages to human beings. To a huge extent, the pollinators preserve the better health of ecosystems. In the intensive project of Gobuzzr, the traditional manual method of monitoring beehives is enhanced where the apiarists can directly handle records with the typical usage of intended equipment maintaining the overall tracking process. The honey bees are important insect fecundation all over the world and without its presence, everything will be abolished.
Generally, the Gobuzzr beehive tracking system is made up of mechanical systems, heat sensors, hydraulic devices, etc. The hive monitoring system is mainly constructed to monitor the overall beehive activities. The remote monitoring IoT device requires constant maintenance and its integrated sensors are used to monitor the overall colonies. Here, electric balance scales are used to measure the weight of hives. Tracking of data is feasible through the beehive monitoring equipment.
Where do the honey bees live?
Typically, they live in the groups known to be the hives containing queen bee, several female bees & male drone bees. In the traditional days, the honey bees spent their lifetimes in natural concerns such as the caves, trees, overhangs & other locations, etc. Due to the advancements in techniques & technology, realizing the importance of solitary honey bee, an attempt was made known to be a hive. It is nothing but an exclusive home specially made for the bees. The conventional hives are nothing but the crude shelters manufactured from a reliable material in a concerned locale.
Types of Hives
The categorization comes under the greater shadow of the removable frame & fixed com hives. They are typically known to be the conventional hives that have been in used for more than a hundred years. They do not allow for any transportation process or earlier stage of the inspection, hence a minimal number of people are using it. Of course, they have gained better fame subjected to the healthier method of generating honey.
In terms of ecological beekeeping, there is a greater belief for the intervention and protection of traditional ways of beekeeping. More chances were claimed for the spread of disease and also varroa resistant colonies intended to the olden hives. Most of the ecological apiarists were indifferent motives exclaiming against the bee natural way of instinct, producing roundworms. Typically, nature does not corner out anything. As everyone knows, the Langstroth hives are the standard ones & it is used in most of the countries, a worth considering too. They have a list type of hives & can perform in any concern of conditions. It is better to have a discussion with the local authorities about several protocols & regulations regarding the traditional hives in a concerned area.
Additional Facts- Removable Frame Hives
Broadly, the removable frame beehives are the most common ones. Here, the hives are the efficient ones to work and allow for complete access to the comprehensive brood chamber kind of inspection. An important benefit is that they allow for the best transportation, mostly preferred by the apiarists.
Langstroth
This type of hive consists of different parts such as the elevated hive stand, bottom board, entrance reducer, deep hive brood, medium honey super, frame, crown board, and roof, etc. An important point to be noted that a hive may not be a necessary one, but it may be a useful one in most cases since it uplifts wet ground, enhancing the air circulation and automatically resulting in the minimal bending while inspection of the hive takes place. Additionally, the grass in the entry part reduces the bee’s ability to move in & out.
A bottom board is nothing a major floor of the hive, consisting of the several rails serving as a frame in & around the initial piece of the wood, protecting the entire colony from a typical damp ground part. Nowadays, most of the apiarists are using this exclusive board, improving the ventilation part and also helpful in controlling the population of the varroa mites.
An entrance reducer mainly limits the bee access to the concerned hives and also controls the temperature during the typical cooler months. In case if this type of reducer is not used, then clumps of grass are used to close the entry port. The deep hive boxes contain several frames of comb and it plays a vital role. The brood chamber has been used by the worker bees for the raising of thousands of baby bees.
The frames have three different types of sizes such as the deep, shallow & medium. These are subjected to the differential hive bodies. In most of the hives, the removable frames are used. Mostly, bees build the comb onto the frames. Since they are easily removable one can easily inspect, manipulate & manage everything in an efficient manner without any complications.
The crown board contains a shallow tray along with a ventilation hole in the middle part. It is feasible for the reduction of the notch in one of the minimal length of the complete frame, an additional ventilation source. The placing of the inner cover over the tray side is positioned up. It has also gained more popularity in recent years along with a colony with terrific ventilation.
The external roof preserves the bees from several elements. Similar to that of the roof on a house, an individual can make a confirmation of it is a waterproof one & enhance the life of the wood by covering the comprehensive top with different materials such as the aluminum flashing, asphalt tiles, shingles & so on.
Top bar
The second type in the removable type is known to be the top bar beehive. The components are extremely simple to process. The individuals with the least most woodworking experience can construct a top bar hive. The only drawback is that it is a little bit harder to work when compared with the Langstroth hives. At the same time, cross combing is also a greater issue and there are no proper dimensions too.
It may not be a compatible one when compared with the other type of top bar hives. This one automatically means that sharing the frames of brood is not an easier one unless they also use the same design too. If the folks decide to move with the different hives continually, then a top bar hive may not be a better option. The commercial apiarists do not make use of the combs as they cannot handle any of the privileged shocks of transport.
Modified Dadant
This kind of hive is the largest one, more than one’s expectation and it is designed more or less similar to that of the Langstroth. Here, the frames are also deeper & wider too when compared to the other hives & it is a major reason it is a well-known one among the commercial apiarists. The main limitation is that it is a little bit harder to manipulate. The hives comprise of the wood floor, brood body, queen excluder, eleven self spacing frames & foundation, etc.
Fixed types
Broadly, these types of beehives are not easy to manage as the inspection process is not an easier one & also it is difficult to inspect too. The countries which are following beekeeping traditions, these types are the apt one.
Warre
The first one is the Warre hive which is more or less similar to that of the Langstroth hive. It is structured as a vertical hive consisting of separate individual boxes. The major difference between the above-mentioned hives is that minimal size & there are inadequate removable frames in the Warre.
It makes use of the top bars which cannot be removed and positioned in a particular place. On the other side of the flip, the entire hive can be lifted & place exclusive boxes on the bottom side, so that the bees can build comb from the top to bottom side similar to that of a natural tree cavity. Here, in this unique platform, the overall conditions of a hive can be predicted just by observing the inlet and never unlocked for the inspection purpose.
Skep
Next, one is a traditional type known to be the skep, made up of coil basket made from either straw or rope. Here, one end faces down and a mini opening is paved for the entrance. In some of the areas, these types are not allowed to construct since these combs are not removable types.
Before these hives existed, most of the apiarists keep the different bees in the skep. They are moderate cost & also it is easier to manufacture too; bees live in them. The only issue in maintaining this type of beekeeping is that the entire comb gets ruined while harvesting is done.
It is said to be that the log hives have been preserved for thousands of years. They are in the overall developing countries & not an apt one for the honey production since the hive needs to be ruined for the harvesting process. They are explored globally especially in the industrialized parts where the resources are more. It is maintained as the novelties where the apiarists create the log hives for the production of the wild honey bees.
Sun Hive
Finally, the sun hive is a typical combination of several skep baskets over the wooden support structures, where it is installed at a height of about three meters. Here, the bees are in a position of the aerial realm & fly above the onlookers. Based on the innate criteria, the brood nests are designed.