Bee-Ring’s Viam-powered smart hive is reinventing beekeeping

Discover how Bee-Ring uses Viam to transform beekeeping into a more accessible and sustainable practice.

Built on Viam from scratch, Bee-Ring’s smart beehive provides vital real-time metrics that reduce labor time and empower beekeepers to proactively address issues.

Months of dev-time saved

With Viam’s built-in fleet & data management services

Custom hardware integration

Configured custom hardware as Viam components accessible in any SDK

Robust cloud control

To monitor multiple smart hive sensors & allow remote control of hive motors

“As Bee-Ring grows, and we reach new markets and develop new products, we’re confident that the Viam platform is going to scale with us—easily.” — Tim Burnett, CEO, Bee-Ring

THE PROBLEM

“The goal of the Bee-Ring is to collect data for the user and have the ability to modify certain parameters of the hive without having to be present the whole time.”

Beekeepers face increasingly urgent challenges in caring for bee colonies, from colony swarming to varroa mites, yet beehives functionally haven’t changed much since the 1800s.

Recognizing the power of technology to solve these issues, Bee-Ring sought to create a smart beehive that automates hive management and allows beekeepers to monitor hive health in real time. To do that, they needed a robust software platform that could:

• Connect multiple motors and sensors across field locations
• Collect critical sensor data securely in the cloud for future processing ‍
• Reliably reconnect to units in the field based on solar power availability

THE SOLUTION

“Viam allows for all of the different components of the Bee-Ring to function as one. It’s a one stop shop for the automation, the sensor data, and in the future, our machine learning process.”

With so many sensitive factors at play, Bee-Ring used Viam as their software platform of choice to build their smart beehive. The beehive’s sensors measure critical real-time metrics like honey weight, temperature, and bee activity levels.

Bee-Ring found these Viam features crucial for developing their technology:

• Data management to securely collect sensor data in the cloud, even when connection is interrupted ‍
• Fleet management to monitor performance across multiple motors and sensors ‍
• Authentication and user management that would have taken months to develop from scratch ‍
• Flexible APIs for easy integration of custom boards, sensors, and other beehive components

THE IMPACT

“Using the Viam platform gives users the ability to scale their operation, whether it’s a hobbyist beekeeper that has one or two hives, or the industrial beekeeper who has thousands.”

Using Viam’s platform, APIs, and services has saved Bee-Ring significant time and resources, allowing them to focus on their core mission of revolutionizing beekeeping. With smart beehives, beekeepers are able to prevent and quickly respond to hive issues, ensuring healthier colonies and more reliable honey production.

As Bee-Ring scales, they plan to utilize additional Viam abilities like:

• Easy integration for ESP32s, power management, and other custom needs ‍
• Machine learning to analyze hive health and predict problems with more accuracy ‍
• Modern APIs to query beehive stats collected using Viam for custom customer-facing interfaces

INDUSTRY

Agriculture

ROBOT

Smart Beehive

SERVICES

Data Management Fleet Management