An experimental IT apiary was opened in the Vasylkiv district of the Kyiv region.
This was reported on the Facebook page of the USAID Economic Support for Ukraine program.
Currently, the IT apiary consists of 10 experimental polypropylene hives equipped with solar panels and sensors that can be controlled by a beekeeper from a smartphone. The sensor information is transmitted to the server and from there to the phone.
Through the application on the phone, you can check the temperature in the hive, moisture, real-time weight, and the amount of honey collected, and the application has a GPS navigator function.
A team of specialists from Ukraine and Poland worked on creating such a hive. The patent for their invention was filed in Ukraine.
In May 2023, 10 hives were populated with bee colonies of three breeds – Ukrainian Steppe, Carpathian, and Karnika. The apiary is now monitoring the bees’ behaviour and, if necessary, can regulate the temperature and humidity in the hive, as these indicators affect the incidence of bees and, consequently, the result of their work – the amount of honey collected.
About IT-beekeeping startup
AmoHive, a Ukrainian-Polish startup, has developed a solution to help scientists research bee diseases and the consequences of their unsuccessful wintering.
AmoHive’s engineers, beekeepers, and IT specialists created a smart solution. They equipped the hives with sensors that transmit information about the pack’s state inside and outside.
AmoHive developers note that Ukraine is the largest country in the world regarding the number of beekeepers. That’s why Ukraine is sometimes called the birthplace of beekeeping.