Smart beehives in Chiayi County help beekeepers save manpower and improve production and quality

Chiayi County is vigorously promoting smart beehives to save labor and improve quality through sensing and scales. (Provided by Chiayi County Government)

Traditional beekeeping is ushering in a technological revolution! The "smart beehive" actively promoted by the Chiayi County Government has been put into operation by 8 beekeepers. It not only saves about 6 hours of inspection time every week, but also increases the amount of honey collected by 10%. Moreover, through precise digital management, the quality is even better, making participating beekeepers a consistent winner in honey evaluation.

Chiayi County Agriculture Department Director Xu Zhangmin pointed out that in order to control honey production and bee colony dynamics, beekeepers must open the beehives and take them out one by one, which is extremely labor-intensive. After the introduction of smart modules, a miniature electronic scale was installed under the beehive, and data can be transmitted to the mobile app in real time. Beekeepers can keep track of the weight of their beehives and honey production anytime and anywhere, and then open the boxes to collect when the data shows "standards are met," significantly reducing operating costs and unnecessary labor.

Li Qiuying, chief of agriculture and forestry crops, gave an example. He Guanxun, a beekeeper in Meishan Township, keeps 280 boxes of bees. After introducing a dedicated bee farm weather station and smart beehive sensing system, he can remotely monitor the temperature, humidity, weight and environmental changes of the beehives through his mobile phone, and even the health and food storage status of the bee colony can be seen at a glance.

Li Qiuying emphasized that in the past, He Guanxun had to inspect box by box to understand the bee condition. Now he can detect abnormalities immediately through data and respond in advance. He can save about 6 hours of inspection time every week and increase honey collection by 10% on average. He also grasps the best time to collect honey, improves operational efficiency and management accuracy. This year, he won the first place in the special award in the quality evaluation of domestic longan honey in Chiayi County.

Li Qiuying said that Jiaxian County is an important beekeeping area and hopes to attract more young people to invest in the beekeeping industry through the modular promotion of smart beehives, and gradually build a modern bee industry development model that is both intelligent, resilient and sustainable. At present, 8 households have introduced smart beehives for operation, and 27 beekeepers have completed the training. We will continue to expand the promotion and bring Chiayi’s domestic high-quality honey into a new era of high quality.

The sensing and weighing of smart beehives greatly saves manpower. (Provided by Chiayi County Government)