Emerging vistas of Remote Sensing Tools in Pollination Studies

With the growth of information and technology across the globe, remote sensing applications find a place in the ecological studies of pollinators. The utilization of remote sensing tools in understanding the ecosystem services rendered by the bee pollinators is reviewed here. We discussed how radar and radio telemetry techniques helps to track individual bees, their foraging behaviour and density in relation to altered phenology of flowering crops in a landscape. Role of satellite imagery tools in studying characterizing a landscape affected by anthropogenic factors was discussed.  Monitoring invasive bee species that cause a threat to native bee fauna was explored. We explained the utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles to map the floral resource that influence the density and incidence of pollinators. Remote sensing tools used to measure sequence of pollination events was discussed

An IoT-Based Beehive Monitoring System for Real-Time Monitoring of Apis cerana indica Colonies

A study was conducted to monitor the bee activity in the colonies of diferente strengths in real time using an IoT-based device. The in-hive temperature and relative humidity were measured in the colonies of Apis cerana indica Fabricius of different strengths using the sensor-laden IoT device that was correlated with the movement of foragers into and out of the hive. A significantly higher movement of foragers was recorded at an in-hive temperature and relative humidity of 27.84 ºC and 61.47% at 5-6 p.m. with an observed activity of 9,638 bees/hive/hour in the strong colonies. In the weak colonies, the mean forager activity was 1,436.3 bees/hive/hour, which was recorded at an in-hive temperature of 26.52 ºC and 61.42% relative humidity. The mean honey area in the strong and weak colonies were 1,300.80±177.61 cm2 and 508.80±156.84 cm2, respectively. Pollen area in the strong and weak colonies were 447.60±112.08 cm2 and 116.20±66.43 cm2, respectively. In the strong and weak colonies, the area under egg brood was 470±53.06 cm2 and 88.20±36.85 cm2, larvae brood was 583.40±11.04 cm2 and 80.00±24.67 cm2 and sealed brood was 684.20±57.98 cm2 and 102.80±16.59 cm2, respectively. The real-time data on the movement of foragers in the colonies of different strengths enabled us to undertake timely intervention in the maintenance of the bee colonies