Real-time monitoring system for bee hives
A sensor-driven platform to observe hive conditions 24/7 and build a data matrix for understanding bee behavior—connecting technology and nature with real measurements.
I’m currently working on a project dedicated to the comprehensive analysis of bee behavior. Bees are essential for ecosystem balance, and their society inside the hive is an example of collective intelligence: roles shift dynamically, and the colony constantly regulates temperature to keep brood healthy and stable.
The core objective is to gather a rich data matrix from inside and outside the hive—temperature, humidity, pressure, solar influence, wind, and activity indicators. With that foundation, the long-term goal is to create predictive models that help anticipate changes and detect risks early.
“If we can measure the hive with respect and precision, we can understand patterns without disturbing them.”
The deployment strategy covers multiple points because the hive is not uniform: brood areas behave differently than storage areas, and solar radiation can create asymmetries from one side of the hive to the other. Measuring those gradients helps explain how bees adapt their collective regulation.
System architecture
The sensor network is centered around an ESP32 acting as the hub for internal and external sensors. Because hives are often in areas with limited connectivity, the system transmits data using LoRa, which provides long range with low power consumption.
Data is received by a middleware gateway in the nearby town, then relayed to an AWS server where it is stored in a database. On top of that, I’m building a web dashboard that shows real-time hive conditions and historical trends. Predictive modules are planned for later phases as the dataset grows.
At this point, with roughly 50% of the initial goals achieved, I decided to use ChatGPT as a core companion tool to accelerate development, optimize code, and reduce the learning curve of a multi-technology stack (including AWS Lightsail).
Project photos
