Hive Monitoring at GVSU

Jonathan Engelsma

Anne Marie Fauvel

GVSU Quick Facts

!   Established 1960

!   1,985 Faculty and Staff

!   ~25,000 Students

!   78 Undergrad Programs

!   29 Graduate Programs

GVSU Meijer Campus in Holland

• Small rural satellite campus

• Community oriented

• Active Green Team

• Successful small scale sustainability project

• Natural place for an apiary

Project Goals

!   Provide education opportunities for Grand Valley Students and the Holland Community, relating to bee awareness, sustainable agricultural practices, beekeeping skills and community engagement.

!   Honey Bee research, using Honey Bees as a bio-indicator, collecting data relating to Climate Change.

Ge

tting

Se

t Up

!!!

Students, Community members, Staff and Faculty built hives with guidance from local beekeepers.

Funded by the GVSU Sustainability Initiative Office

Lib 380: Honey Bees & Social Impact GVSU Beekeepers Club

Community Events

Education Opportunities

Research Opportunities

NASA

http://honeybeenet.gsfc.nasa.gov

Data Collection…

Source: Paul Vonk, http://hivetool.org

Results from 1970-2006

Da

ys #

of

the

Ye

ar

Source: Esaias et al. 2009

Honey Bees

Perfect Interdisciplinary Vehicle

Engineering Students –build and install hardware beehive scale

Computer Science Students – develop Software and website for data Collection.

http://beecloudproject.appspot.com/

sms warnings &

http web connect

http web

connect

API addon

The Brains of the Operation

!   Arduino Microcontroller

! Ruggeduino produced in-house @ GVSU by A. Sterian

!   Simple C programming

!   6 analog inputs for sensors

Communication to Cloud

!   Cellular Shield

!   Stacks on top of Arduino

!   Provides SMS send/receive functionality

!   Uses SIM card and service plan from a carrier

Electronics Enclosure

!   Junction box

!   Wire holes sealed to prevent moisture from entering

!   Top cover creates watertight seal

Solar Power

!   Solar Panel w/ Battery Charger

!   15 Watts

!   Designed to charge 12 volt batteries in RVs

Frame

!   Constructed of T-Slot extruded aluminum

!   Fastened together using compatible joining brackets

New Opportunities

http://beeinformed.org

Goal for HoneyBeeNet and Bee Informed Partnership !   By Fall – recruit 100 bee groups to buy scales

with data collection capability.

!   By February 2014 - have these online with data accessible through a web-based user interface providing various views.

Current Winter 2013 Updates!

How to Keep in Touch with the Meijer Campus in Holland Apiary?

o  Follow our blog: gvbees http://gvbees.wordpress.com

o  Like us (GVSU beekeepers) on Facebook and hear about our events and activities

o  Come to our events, visit the apiary and become a beekeeper

o  Contact me: Anne Marie Fauvel, Affiliate Professor, Liberal Studies and Biology Department.