Students from the United Robotics of Lacombe (URL) program have developed a unique prototype that could help Alberta beekeepers combat significant bee colony losses. The students leveraged their robotics skills to create BeeWise, a monitoring system designed to improve hive survival rates by recording environmental factor data.
At the recent Ten Peaks Conference, where BeeWise was showcased, Eavor co-founder Jeanine Vany commended the ingenuity of the team’s project. As a participant in the event, she emphasized Eavor’s ambition to nurture students’ skills in engineering and technology. The company believes that encouraging students to explore and develop these skills empowers the next generation to address real-world challenges and shape the future of technology.
The team, led by instructor Steven Schultz, includes Stijn Tans, Eugene Malabuyoc, Wakefield Roadhouse, Judah Boyko, and Thomas Hibbs. Their project was created following the devastating loss of the school’s beehive populations last winter.
“75 percent of our hives died. This is a huge number compared to the average, which is about 33 percent,” Tans explained. In a video submission to a local tech competition, Tans explained that this loss represents “not just a school problem, it’s a real-world sustainability crisis.”
To mitigate future loss, the team created a prototype that uses sensors to measure humidity, temperature, and CO2 levels within beehives. Roadhouse explained that proper ventilation is essential to manage CO2 levels, which bees naturally exhale, and to prevent excessive humidity that can lead to harmful condensation. Additionally, maintaining adequate insulation is important to protect hives from Alberta’s frigid winter temperatures.
The system’s functionality uses an Arduino board to process the data. The data is currently only displayed in text format; however, the team is working on developing a graphical interface and integrating the data into a mobile app, which would allow farmers to monitor their hives and receive notifications. The team plans to test the BeeWise system next winter at a local apiary that manages 600 hives.
The cost of the prototype is relatively low, as Malabuyoc describes. Including the Arduino board, shield, and sensors, one device costs approximately $50 to produce. To compare, one beehive costs about $1000; $400 for the bees alone. If the prototype succeeds in helping the beehives survive these environmental conditions, the savings for each beekeeper could be substantial.
The students expressed their gratitude for the support and guidance of their teacher, Schultz, as well as organizations like Ten Peaks, MindFuel, and the FTC, which provided valuable resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities.
“It takes a village to raise a child,” Schultz said. “If we didn’t have the community support, these programs would be dead in the water.”
They also emphasized their ongoing need for additional mentorship and support to continue developing their project. To learn more or contact the team, click here.
