Sentinel Hives monitor honey bee health in real-time using hive scales to track colony weight gain or loss, monthly disease assessments, and traps that collect some of the pollen bees bring home to determine available plant forage. The scale data is automatically transmitted to our servers and the patterns of nectar flow mapped. The goal is to collect enough information so that Sentinel Hives become early warning systems and we can alert beekeepers of potential problems due to increases in disease or lack of nutritional resources. The Sentinel Hives will allow us to develop data driven best management practices for beekeepers in real time, improving honey bee health for all beekeepers. 

The Bee Informed Partnership has joined to together with our home institution,  University of Maryland College Park, to launch a kick starter campaign to help fund our Sentinel Hive Scale Project.  Through this initiative it is our goal to use crowd sourced funding to help launch the next innovation in Apiary Management.  Follow the link below to find out more about our citizen/scientist partnership.

Sentinel Hive Map

Sentinel Hive Launch

Article from UMD's College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences