How the internet is helping save the bees

Although bee populations in the United States have stabilized somewhat, some species are experiencing declines that could impact entire county regions. For example, across New England, 14 bee species were on the decline by as much as 90% in 2019.

Experts have also been alarmed by the number of colonies that have succumbed to colony collapse disorder. This is a phenomenon in which most of the colony's worker bees die or disappear, leaving the colony without the means to care for its young and its queen. New threats, such as introducing Asian giant hornets (nicknamed "Murder Hornets") into the United States, are also a cause for concern.

The decline of bees has serious economic and environmental implications. There are about 4000 known native bee species in the U.S., and they play an essential role in maintaining our ecosystem and our food supply. Bees pollinate flowers, fruits and vegetables, so they are needed for plant growth on farms as well as in the wild.

Thankfully, scientists, beekeepers and agricultural experts are searching for solutions. Many companies, organizations, and individuals are pitching in as well. Now more than ever, the internet has also made it easier to join bee conservation efforts.

Hobby beekeepers can learn about the beekeeping trade and find supplies online so they can set up beekeeping operations at home. Furthermore, tech companies are providing beekeepers with high-tech assistance by developing new technologies that support hive maintenance efforts. Internet service providers (ISPs) themselves are contributing to bee-saving efforts by adding big sustainability goals to their list of corporate responsibilities.

Here's how the internet is working together to save the bees -- and how you can help, too.

ISPs committing to sustainability

Much of the decline of bee populations -- and insect populations in general -- is attributable to environmental decline and the hefty use of pesticides and fertilizers in farming practices. Heavy land use has also led to the loss of vast amounts of viable habitat for insects. According to one 2017 study, Germany's insect population has seen a 75% decline since the 1990s.

Any efforts to maintain the environment and sustain insect habitats are welcome, which is why it's heartening to see ISPs contributing to sustainability efforts. 

Here's how some of the biggest ISPs are helping:

Verizon

Verizon announced at the beginning of 2019 that it had closed the U.S. telecommunications industry's first Green Bond. A Green Bond is a fixed-income financial instrument that earmarks money raised for environmental projects. In other words, when investors invest in a Green Bond, the issuer of the bond uses an amount equal to the proceeds to fund green investments and sustainability projects.

Verizon's bond offering raised almost $1 billion for projects like renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, sustainable water management and biodiversity conservation.

AT&T

AT&T, one of the world's largest companies, has multiple environmental initiatives as part of their social responsibility program, including:

• Investing in renewable energy.
• Reducing emissions.
• Building climate change resiliency.
• Empowering customers with sustainable technology.
• Minimizing waste and recycling.

AT&T has also created a sustainability roadmap to guide the company until 2025.

Spectrum

Charter Communications (Spectrum) is building sustainability into its fleets and facilities. The company's new headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, will achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold status. The Telecom company is also implementing new technologies to make its fleet of 30 000 vehicles more efficient.

HughesNet

HughesNet, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, was given an award by the Alliance for Workplace Excellence for EcoLeadership and Diversity in 2019. After establishing a "Green Committee," they received the award, which develops environmental programs and supports employee eco-volunteerism. The company is also certified as a "Green Business" by Montgomery County in Maryland.

Frontier

Frontier uses a variety of green initiatives to improve the sustainability of its business practices. The company allows its call center employees to work from home, which reduces emissions. It also hosts virtual meetings, provides employees with public transit spending accounts and enables customers to pay their bills online instead of by mail.

Broadband in rural areas

Broadband internet service is the most widely used type of internet access. It has become a necessary tool for businesses and consumers, as it allows them to operate data-heavy applications across the internet without risking slow or reduced speeds. Broadband internet is widely used for video conferencing, transferring large amounts of data from one party to another, and for general web browsing.

Extending broadband internet services to rural areas has long been a goal for both local governments and private companies. Americans living in rural areas have made some significant gains in their access to broadband internet in the past several years, but they still lag urban areas.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 63% of rural Americans say they have a broadband internet connection at home. That's up from just 35% in 2007. Still, rural Americans are 12 percentage points less likely than the rest of the country to have some type of broadband at home.

While rural broadband may not seem relevant to the fate of America's bees, it will play a significant role in the beekeeping industry in the coming years. Apiaries that are connected to the internet will have more opportunities to grow and expand their businesses. They'll also have more opportunities to take advantage of web applications and other technologies that can help them manage their hives and monitor bee populations.

The solutions being designed to save bee populations will require fast internet speeds to operate effectively. Without broadband access, it could become difficult to deploy the next generation of Internet of Things (IoT) technology that could save bee populations worldwide.

How technology is helping save the bees

In fact, the agricultural industry is on the cusp of a revolution thanks to new developments in IoT technology. Automated smart farming systems -- high-tech growing models in which farms are monitored or operated remotely using sensors -- will soon become an important solution to addressing the nation's food supply, not to mention our environmental challenges.

The "Internet of Things" refers to a system of connected computing devices that can transfer data over a network without the need for humans to interact with a computer or with each other. IoT technology refers to any type of computer technology that has this capability -- it could be something as small as a smartphone or something as large as an entire growing facility.

As an example, tractor company John Deere started connecting its tractors to the internet, turning them into IoT devices in the process. Now, farmers can view data about their crop yields collected by their tractors while in operation. In the future, the company is expecting to deploy self-driving tractors and other technologies to assist farmers.

IoT has applications in beekeeping as well. Startups worldwide are developing several IoT-enabled beekeeping systems to address the decline of bees, which is a threat to as much as 35% of food crops in the United States. These include IoT monitoring sensors, digital assistants, automated cameras and other technologies.

Inmarsat and ApisProtect

One example, ApisProtect, is a small device that attaches to the bottom of a beehive roof. ApisProtect has partnered with satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat to deploy the IoT technology.

ApisProtect collects data about the hive's activity, then sends that data to the beekeeper via their smartphone. This way, the beekeeper can determine which hives are underperforming, which hives need intervention, and how effectively colonies are pollinating the surrounding area.

Oracle and the World Bee Project Global Hive Network

In 2019, computer technology company Oracle announced its partnership with the World Bee Project to save bees using artificial intelligence (AI). Together, the two organizations created The Global Hive Network, the world's first coordinated hive-monitoring project.

The network will generate data by monitoring hives worldwide, which can then be used to identify trends and spot meaningful correlations within honey bee populations. The network will also monitor how honey bees behave and how they are impacted by weather patterns, diseases, pesticides and other threats.

 Using all this data, beekeepers can take informed actions to help bee populations.

Apps and software for Bee Management

IoT-enabled sensors embedded in hives will be able to record and transfer data to organizations that manage bees. Once they have this data, they can use software applications to assess the health of their pollinators. Other apps can help them track bee populations, track bee movements, and more.

• The World Bee Count App: Anyone can upload images they've taken of pollinating bees to the World Bee Count App. All they must do is post their picture to social media using the #beescount hashtag. Then, the images will become part of an interactive pollinator map. The project's goal is to count pollinating bees around the world so we can better understand the reasons for their decline.
• Hive Tracks: A type of hive management software that enables beekeepers to record beekeeping data, set reminders, generate bee maps, share data and more. It's a cloud-based tool, so users can access it wherever they are. Over 34 000 beekeepers use the software in over 150 countries.
• My Apiary: Another cloud-based hive management application that's designed especially for commercial beekeepers. It includes a digital work planner to reduce paperwork, organizational tools, a data reporting component and other features. Users can manage their entire beekeeping operation through a single digital dashboard.
• Pollenity: A company that makes products that serve not only as infrastructure for beekeeping but also as IoT-enabled devices. For example, Pollenity's Beebot uses sensors to capture data about important hive events, and their uHive system is a fully-functioning Langstroth hive equipped with sensors, humidity detectors and more.
• Bee Health Guru: A community bulletin board where beekeepers and bee enthusiasts can ask questions, share best practices and network. However, the community is also crowdfunding to create the Bee Health Guru app, which will monitor hives for specific sounds bees make when they are unwell. It will then compare those sounds against a proprietary database of audio files to inform beekeepers what is wrong with their bees.
• Arnia: A remote hive-monitoring system that aims to significantly improve the health and welfare of bees around the world. The system uses hive-monitoring sensors that are attached manually to hives. The sensors then relay data to a user interface, and the data can be shared and compared with historical information to determine trends.

Online resources for beekeeping

If you decide you want to join the beekeeping community, some of the above tools can certainly help. But it would help if you also searched for other online resources that can help you educate yourself on the trade.

Online courses

• The Beginner Beekeeping Online Course on Flow: Among other products, Flow produces frames that consist of partly-formed honeycomb cells, making it easier to collect honey from the hive. You can join the company's beginner's beekeeping course for free for one month. After that, it's just $19 annually.
• Beekeeping 101 at PennState Extension: This is a beginner's online course for beekeepers. The entire course is nine hours and costs just $39.75. You'll receive a certificate of completion once you finish the course, and you'll be ready to manage your own bee colonies.
• eCornell Master Beekeeping Certificate Program: This course equips students to become beekeepers at the hobby or commercial level and covers topics like bee biology, managing pests and diseases, and beekeeping science. Students will receive a certificate upon completion. The course is $899, but it also requires you to have a minimum of three years of experience to enroll.
• University of Montana Online Beekeeping Certificate Program: This program includes three online courses that will take you through the apprentice, journeyman, and master levels of beekeeping, resulting in a "Master Beekeeper" certificate for the student. The Montana State Beekeepers Association endorses it, and each course is $325 to $495, depending on the level.
• Beginner Beekeeping Courses on Udemy: Udemy is an unaccredited online learning platform that provides digital learning courses in various trades and industries, including beekeeping. Many of Udemy's beekeeping courses start at just $9.99.
• Courses at HoneyBees Online: HoneyBees Online has an Online Beekeeping Academy to help up-and-coming beekeepers learn the trade on their own time. The classes cover your first year of beekeeping, queen rearing, and other topics. Classes range from $39 to $269 (Note: These classes have a "50% off" promotion running during the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Barnyard Bees on YouTube: Barnyard Bees is a YouTube channel that offers free instructional videos on beekeeping. The channel is owned by Barnyard Bees & Supplies of Chatsworth, Georgia.

Shopping for supplies

Once you've learned the tricks of the trade, you can shop online for beekeeping supplies from some of the following retailers:

• Kelley Beekeeping: A store for all your beekeeping needs, Kelley Beekeeping has been making high-quality products for beekeepers since 1924.
• Draper Bee: Draper Bee has a wide variety of protective gear and other beekeeping products, not to mention a great selection of pure honey.
• Dadant: A family-owned beekeeping product outlet that dates back seven generations. They have everything you need to start beekeeping.
• Western Bee Supplies: Western Bee Supplies has provided its customers with high-quality woodenware, containers, bee medications, extractors and other beekeeping supplies since 1965.

The Bottom Line

Experts and hobbyists will continue monitoring both domestic and wild bee populations to determine how we can reverse the decline of this important species. Thankfully, new advances in technology have made conservation efforts easier and more effective. We can hope to see the bee population recover as more companies continue to achieve their sustainability goals.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to start your beekeeping operation using the information provided here.