Smart Beehive

We are raising donations to create a "Smart Beehive" – a beehive equipped with electronic sensors that collect real-time information on the lives of bees and the environmental factors affecting them. The collected data will be available online 24/365 for anyone interested. The "Smart Beehive" will be presented to high school students with the goal of increasing interest in the beekeeping profession and bee conservation.

Add "Smart Beehive" to the donation reason.

The Challenge

Over the past 10 years, over 30% of bee colonies in Europe have been destroyed. Currently, one in every 10 species of bees and butterflies is threatened with extinction. The threats facing pollinating insects are intensive agriculture, pollution, invasive species, pathogens, and climate change.

The natural conditions in Bulgaria are very favorable for the development of beekeeping. The largest number of bee colonies are raised in the Northeast Region – around 23% of those in the country. A serious problem facing beekeepers in the region is the high mortality and disappearance of bees, similar to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

This is also among the main reasons for abandoning the livelihood. According to data from the "Pchela Dobrich 1946" association, the number of beekeepers in the Dobrich region decreased drastically in 2023 and 2024. A drop of about 50% has been recorded among those employed in the sector in recent years.

Actions

One of the ways to change this negative trend is by sparking young people's interest in this profession, turning them into modern researchers of bees and beekeeping. For this to happen, young people must develop an interest in scientific research in the fields of ecology and beekeeping, as both science and practice. If the educational system is lagging behind in this direction, what better opportunity for us to do it – as a society of active citizens and socially responsible businesses?!

The main activity under the "Smart Hive" project is the assembly and installation of the smart hive during a demonstration day in the village of Ezerets, Shabla Municipality. Volunteers and donors will have the opportunity to participate, and besides observing the process, they will be able to join in or simply observe it as a training session. Our largest donor for the project will become the godfather of the "Smart Beehive" and give it a name.

Once the "Smart Beehive" is operational, it will be presented in a demonstration open lesson to students from a school in the Dobrich or Varna area. The goal is for the model to be subsequently applied in other schools and STEM labs that have shown interest in the topic.

Results

The "Smart Beehive" project will support:

1. Beekeepers in taking adequate measures to care for the hundreds of bee colonies. They will be able to use the observations and conclusions made as a result of the project regarding the impact of various external factors on the lives of bees. They will receive information about a new technology that they can implement to assist their operations.
2. Teachers and the educational system – by providing specific knowledge and information that can usually only be obtained through working with specific specialists. Through STEM education, the "Smart Beehive" will help young people understand the connection between human activity and its impact on bees and nature, develop an interest in scientific research in the fields of ecology and climate change, as well as in beekeeping as both science and practice.

Active citizens: "We protect what we love. We love what we know. We know what we study." The "Smart Beehive" will demonstrate how climate change affects nature and the development of a bee colony, and consequently the economy and our quality of life.