Sweet Salvation: Israeli Startup Is Saving Honey Bees from Extinction

Tiny Dancer: Scientists spy on booty-shaking bees to help conservation
AFP

An Israeli startup called Beewise is saving honey bees from extinction with the world’s first automated beehive with a robot that protects against infection, diseases and pests.

According to the World Bee Project, pollination is one of the most significant biological processes for the world’s ecosystems, with about 75 percent of the world’s crops relying on animal pollination. Pollination-dependent crops include avocados, almonds, apples, and coffee.

Yet according to research, as much 35 percent of the world’s bees are dying each year, threatening the global food chain.

The Jerusalem Post cited Albert Einstein as saying mankind could not survive the disappearance of honey bees for more than four years.

The report also cited Beewise’s founder and CEO Saar Safra as saying every third bite you eat depends on the health and productivity of honey bees.

The report said:

Last year, honey bee colonies showed a 40% decrease in population due to a variety of factors. That number has been reduced to 8% using artificial intelligence, robotics and software developed at Beewise. The company’s innovation has won prestigious global awards. Beewise currently sells to commercial beekeepers in Israel and the United States and plans to expand its operations worldwide in the coming years.

[…]

Beewise developed Beehome, a robotic beehive that houses up to 40 colonies. Picture it as a hi-tech condo where more than one million bees can live together. The Beehome looks like a rental storage container. On its sides are colorful vents where the bees enter and exit. The hive is completely solar-powered with rechargeable batteries. The inside of the Beehome looks like a library with hundreds of black-spined books, each one-centimeter thick, on its shelves. Upon closer inspection, one sees that these are the tiny cells – 6,000 of them – that the bees use to store honey. A strange rectangle on a movable arm resembling a TV stand (minus the screen) in the center of the beehive is the robot that uses artificial intelligence to care for the bees, like a built-in, 24/7 babysitter.

The system also prevents Colony Collapse Disorder, which is one of the gravest threats facing honey bees today.

Watching bees is “seeing Mother Nature in action,” said Safra.

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