Tunisian startup helps beekeepers protect hives
Last updated on: 28 January,2020 09:55 am
The device alerts keepers through messages to their mobile phones.
TUNIS (Reuters) – In an effort to preserve one of Earth’s most significant species for human survival, a Tunisian start-up has developed a smart device to help beekeepers track their hives and reduce losses.
SmartBee, developed by IRIS Technologies, tracks indicators such as temperature, humidity, and quality of bee humming, alerting keepers in realtime of any problem.
Farmers say theft, climate change and beehive collapse are among the most serious problems beekeepers face.
"What we tried to do as a company is to develop a device that helps the farmer improve cost-effectiveness and efficiency by sensing indications of problems that may occur in the beehive," said IRIS Technologies CEO Khaled Bouchoucha.
Equipped with sensors and transmitters, the device alerts keepers through messages to their mobile phones.
The inspiration to build the device came to Bouchoucha after his father, a beekeeper, lost a number of his beehives in a heat wave in 2011.