Israeli tech company develops AI robotic beehive

JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli company has developed a beehive that combines a robotic system with software based on artificial intelligence (AI), the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) said on Monday.

The advanced hive was developed by Beewise Technologies company, located in northern Israel and supported by the IIA.

According to the IIA, robotic hives are supposed to solve the huge changeover of hives, at a huge costs, with 40 percent of the hives collapsing every year.

These collapses cause mass death of bees, with about 75 percent of the crops that produce vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts for human consumption dependent on bee pollination.

The mortality rate also poses a threat to the existence of bee honey, as beekeepers will not be able to sustain the bee population when the annual death rates of bees exceed 50 percent.

The new solution, however, allows full automation of bee and honey production, where the beekeepers can remotely control their hives using tablet computers.

The robot can even enter the hive, replacing the manual testing.

The system detects diseases, collects honey, detects problems in advance, and allows a significant reduction in the collapse of the hives.

This fully solar-powered system can manage 24 to 40 hives and automate their operations, like pollination, honey production or reproduction.

Beewise's development includes an automated system for managing robotic growth boxes and is based on a computer vision, monitoring system, AI-based decision making and predictive analytics.

It also includes an automatic system for pest control, feeding and thermal regulation, as well as a harvesting system.