MCU, sensors & PM components used to monitor bees

Colony Collapse Disorder is a serious condition in which the worker bees in a hive disappear. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that bees from an estimated 4m commercial hives pollinate about 30% of the food consumed by Americans. They also pollinate many of the crops eaten by livestock and have a similar role in global food production, meaning that declining bee populations are a serious threat to food sources worldwide.

Apiologists (honeybee researchers) attribute CCD to multiple sources, including parasites, viruses, and pesticides. The primary parasitic suspects are mites, which infect and destroy honeybee colonies.

Varroa destructor mites exist in almost all hives in North America. If left untreated, evidence suggests that mites kill honeybee colonies, and may be a factor in colony collapse disorder. ‘MiteNot’ uses a compostable circuit board that senses the stages of the bee broods reproductive cycle and applies heat at a specific temperature and time to sterilise the mites. The heat is applied when the honeycomb cells have been capped and the temperature stabilises. This is the approximate time when female mites lay eggs but before the male mites can fertilise, thus interrupting the mites’ lifecycle.

“Honey Bees are in danger and need our help. If we don't act now, the integrity of our food supply is at risk,” said Will MacHugh, President, Eltopia Communications. “We work with an incredible team of engineers, scientists, and vendors to tackle this important task, and ST is a strong partner that has provided us with more than a list of excellent components; the team at ST have demonstrated a real commitment to the environment and represent more than a value proposition. They bring values.”

“We often say that ST is found everywhere microelectronics make a positive and innovative contribution to people's life, and now we can also say that is true for bees, which are vital to human survival,” said Luca Difalco, Vice President of Marketing & Application, Smart Power and IoT, STMicroelectronics. “Eltopia’s commitment and focus on addressing Colony Collapse Disorder presented an important challenge that, with our portfolio of low-power MCUs and extensive range of sensors, made us uniquely qualified to address.”

Eltopia’s Intelligent Foundation is currently in research, development and testing. Eltopia is looking for commercial beekeepers and academic institutions to participate in additional testing, targeting market availability by late 2015.