Who would have thought, when the SIM card was first used to connect people by phone, that the same technology might help to save bees? Unforeseeable, maybe. But today researchers at the University of Minnesota are using new industrial SIMs to turn back the destruction of this essential insect.
In the US alone, bee colonies have declined by 90 per cent since 1962. One of the identified problems afflicting bee populations is the varroa destructor mite, which breeds and takes over hives. It's extremely difficult to identify and combat this invader before it's too late. Beekeepers can use pesticides, but this is a heavy handed solution with obvious side effects.
Another solution is to use heat. By applying high temperatures at a specific time, beekeepers can sterilise the mites and halt their breeding cycle. The difficulty is knowing when to do it. Marla Spivak, McKnight University Professor of Apiculture/Social Insects at the University of Minnesota, is now using SIMs to monitor and manage the temperature of beehives. She worked with Gemalto and agricultural tech firm Eltopia to create the MiteNot solution. It centres around a compostable smart beehive frame - a screen printed circuit camouflaged to look and act just like the real thing.
The frame is embedded with sensors to monitor the temperature of 32 elements that indicate brood status and different stages of the mite reproductive cycle. The information is sent by Gemalto's M2M Cinterion Module, which acts as a cellular gateway to send data over the internet to Eltopia's BeeSafe application. The app monitors the data and when thresholds are met, instructs the M2M Module to turn up the heat. Spivak is extremely hopeful about this radical new solution. She says, "The MiteNot project holds the most promise to turn the bee crisis around than any other idea that has come along in a very long time - maybe ever."
