Nectar Flow Mapping for Beekeepers is a project that applies Information Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture. We are witnessing that beekeepers each year are facing losses in production due to the effects of pesticides, disease outbreaks among the bee populations, and the changing climate which impacts the production of nectar. The beekeepers try to substitute the lack of nectar with sugar products. That is a wrong approach. People take honey from bees to feed and heal people and in return people give the bees sugar to survive. As a result, bees become weak, suffer and die before the coming of the next season. How can we expect that bees consume sugar and be healthy? Honey is much more then sugar. Through this project, the beekeepers will have information on the best source of natural food and help them to make the right decision in beekeeping strategy. This would be a win win strategy for both the bees and the beekeepers.
This innovative and inexpensive ICT solution enables the collection of field data and dissemination to beekeepers in a particular region, country or even worldwide in real time via different devices (PCs, smart phones, tablets or phones). The system enables the collection of data from our devices (Automated Beehive Scale), as well as the possibility of integrating the data from devices produced by other manufacturers. The solution is currently being tested in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Current solutions available on the market are much more expensive and only the owner of these devices can benefit from collected information, which is not an efficient use of resources and is costly to maintain for an individual beekeeper.
In the next three months this system will be trialed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Covering whole country with 100 beehive scale service will be ready for next beekeeping season which starts in March 2015. Support for implementation of this project is provided by “USAID/Sida/FARMA PROJECT” in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our goal is to cover every country by same system in future to make a unique global beekeeping service. I am web developer and beekeeper with more then 10 years professional experience in both fields. I have very good IT background in programming web applications, certified as Adobe Certified Expert in Web Specialist. I developed electronic components and programming microcontrollers with help of my mentor. This project would benefit from further support to ensure the expansion of the project to other countries.
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