Integration of Scales and Cameras in Nondisruptive Electronic Beehive Monitoring: On the Within-Day Relationship of Hive Weight and Traffic in Honeybee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) Colonies in Langstroth Hives in Tucson, Arizona, USA

Abstract

The relationship between beehive weight and traffic is a fundamental open research problem for electronic beehive monitoring and digital apiculture, because weight and traffic affect many aspects of honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony dynamics. An investigation of this relationship was conducted with a nondisruptive two-sensor (scale and camera) system on the weight and video data collected on six Apis mellifera colonies in Langstroth hives at the USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona, USA, from 15 May to 15 August 2021. Three hives had positive and two hives had negative correlations between weight and traffic. In one hive, weight and traffic were uncorrelated. The strength of the correlation between weight and traffic was stronger for longer time intervals. The traffic spread and mean, when taken separately, did not affect the correlation between weight and traffic more significantly than the exact traffic counts from videos. Lateral traffic did not have a significant impact on weight.

Keywords

• electronic beehive monitoring
• continuous beehive monitoring
• digital apiculture
• bee traffic
• hive weight
• physical sensors