The partnership utilises the latest and most advanced remote honey bee colony monitoring technology in an effort to resolve current industry problems that limit the value and expansion of the Australian honey bee products industry.
04 August 2017 – Perth, Australia
Bee Smart Technologies, one of the world’s most prominent start ups in the IoA (Internet of Agriculture), today announced that it has partnered with the University of Western Australia to bring together real-time data recording and analyses with academic research in order to outline a map for the development of a sustainable beekeeping sector.
The partnership, aiming to increase the value of the Australian honey bee products and to promote the industry thus inviting and training new professionals, will utilise Bee Smart Technologies’ proprietary remote honey bee monitoring solutions to help evaluate beehive sites for quality of the surrounding cultures and impact on the health of the bees.
There are about 500,000 beehives present in Australia at the moment and this number needs to increase to 750,000 in order for Australia to reach pollination security.
“If a major bee disease arrived in Australia, there would be a 26 percent decline in national agricultural production, which equates to a consumer surplus loss of between $12.4 billion and $27.2 billion”, Dr. Liz Barbour, from UWA’s Office of Research Enterprise, said.
According to Sergey Petrov, CEO of Bee Smart Technologies, “This partnership will prove that real-time accurate data streamed directly from the field is not only invaluable but absolutely paramount for the farmers and beekeepers of the future. We live in the digital era and agriculture needs to catch up in order to stay sustainable.”
The research project, starting January 2018, has a very ambitious goal but could create a sturdy model for the rest of the world to follow. It will run for five years and brings together local, national and international government and educational institutions and businesses, who provide a wealth of expertise and capability.
See the full list of partners here.
“New product management systems from site to product, will equip a new era of high-value beekeeping,” Dr. Barbour said.
