What if the future of bees, whose World Day is celebrated this Wednesday, went through the Internet? The idea, a little crazy, germinates in the minds of some enthusiasts of beekeeping and new technologies. To save them from a disappearance caused by the harmful effects of pesticides or even from one of their most ferocious predators, the hornet, it is now possible to shelter them in connected hives and covered with sensors.
These habitats, like the one designed and marketed by the Label Abeille company (768 euros per hive), allow the beekeeper to monitor the activity and health of his animals in real time ... and to react if necessary. A sensor of humidity, temperature, weight or even atmospheric pressure, daily high-tech monitoring results, according to the company's calculations, up to 40% less mortality!
3 million data per minute
Born in England, the World Bee Project wants to go a little further. The association also offers connected beehives (around 800 euros each) but also equipped with a sound sensor and a camera, several dozen of which are already installed across the Channel, in Hungary or in India… and soon in France.
They do not just display their results on the beekeeper's smartphone or computer but transmit some 3 million data per minute, and in real time, to servers who are responsible for analyzing this enormous mass of 'information. "Thanks to artificial intelligence, it is possible to analyze the how and the why of the events faced by bees and understand the dangers specific to each region of the world", explains Anna Centeno, head of the innovation cell of Oracle France, which provides its servers and its computing capacities.
Alert of the arrival of a hornet
"The image recognition camera, combined with artificial intelligence, will alert, for example, of the arrival of a hornet, of a much larger size than bees," continues Anna Centeno. An increase in the sound intensity will be associated with an attack of bees on a hornet which will have successfully entered the hive since they defend themselves by surrounding it and vibrating with their wings to increase the temperature of its body beyond a bearable limit, which will kill it. "
The very first beehives connected to this global data network must be operational in the coming weeks on the roof of the French subsidiary of Oracle in Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine).