Analog Pyroelectric Infrared Sensor for Non-invasive Beehive Monitoring

Honeybees flying in front of a beehive were observed by the unconventional use of an analog output pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor. A microprocessor calculated the temperature-corrected variance of the sensor's analog output voltage to quantify the bee activity level. Sensor data were transmitted via a WiFi link to an Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform for remote real-time monitoring and data analysis. The technique was sufficiently sensitive to detect individual flying bees, swarming, robbing, and other intrusive apiary events. The sensor performance was equivalent to considerably more expensive radar, vibration, or video beehive monitoring systems.