HiveGenie's in-hive sensors are enclosed in one monitor. You should place the monitor in the middle of the hive, in between the frames of the hive.

HiveGenie is relatively easy to install. It should take you less than an hour to install each unit kit, connect to the network and start transmitting, and to start monitoring your hives. 

The HiveGenie has a built-in memory and can store data for 15 days. Once the unit reconnects, it will upload the stored data to the cloud. 

Yes, HiveGenie can be purchased either with a Wi-Fi or a cellular connection. If your cell phone can connect to Wi-Fi at the location of your hives, HiveGenie will be able to connect as well to the same Wi-Fi network.

No. The HiveGenie Bee Monitor connection doesn’t interfere and does not affect the bees. The transmission frequencies of our units are within the normal background environmental radiation levels. 

According to NCBI (The National Center for Biotechnology Information), studies are yet to confine that there is standard proven evidence for the destruction of bee colonies due to cellular or Wi-Fi radiation.

To minimize radiation exposure, the Hive Genie collects data for 5 minutes and then transmits it for a fraction of a second.  This results in having the wifi effectively off for more than 99% of the time.

Regardless, we are aware of the ongoing concerns, and we are very sensitive to this topic.

Yes, HiveGenie can be purchased either with a Wi-Fi or a cellular connection. We work with Verizon to provide the most reliable cellular coverage for IoT devices.

The HiveGenie transmits data every 5 minutes, therefore every time when you check the status of your hives, the information is current within 5 minutes.

No. The HiveGenie components are made of solid and resilient materials. Our device is built for commercial use, and it will withstand cold or hot weather, heavy rain, or snow. Our units have been used for more than 3 years. In addition, a product warranty is included with the purchase. 

The HiveGenie bee and hive monitor include the following accessories and sensors for every hive:

• Bee trip monitor
• Communication & GPS unit - LTE or Wi-Fi connectivity
• Weather monitor - temperature and humidity
• External conditions monitor - Light, UV radiation, and atmospheric pressure monitor
  
• 4 weight sensors
• In-hive thermometer
  
• In-hive humidity sensors
  
• In-hive light intensity sensor
• A solar panel with a solar charge controller
• A status RGB (Red-Green-Blue) LED
• 6’ (1.8m) long cables

Please note: Due to shipping regulations, we are not allowed to include a battery within the shipping package. We recommend using the following battery if your hives are located in an area with low solar energy: 12 Volt battery with spade connectors, size varies from 7Ah to 13 Ah.

No, you don’t need to have your hives on a pallet. Our cables are 6ft. long, as long as your hives are within 6ft. from one-another, they can connect to one HiveGenie kit.

• A snapshot of the condition of your hives
• The number of bees inside and outside of your hives
• The temperature inside of the hive and at the location of your hive
• The humidity level inside of the hive and at the location of your hive
• The weight of your hives
• The location of your hives
• A historical visualization and data of the above information

There are two ways for us to detect pesticides.  The most common one is when a high number of bees is lost during foraging. For example, 5000 bees go out and only 1000 come back, that is clear signal bees are dying outside and is not normal.  The only reason this would happen (apart from somebody moving the hive and the bees getting lost or someone installing a one-way door) is pesticides are killing foragers.  This is an easy alert for us.  Second, we have recently added a sniffer sensor inside the hive.  We are still in test mode and collecting data.  The sniffer has a VOC (volatile organic carbon) sensor, we think that pesticides should move the needle in this sensor, we don't know yet).  However, bees lost is still a better pesticide detector, as some pesticides will not harm bees (yeah right!), but you really only need to take action when bees are being lost, therefore bee count is the critical parameter. Specifically, bees lost during foraging.

When you see an abnormally high number of beers going out and almost zero coming in, a swarm is forming.  That is a short term phenomenon that may give you a couple of hours to catch the swarm.  On the longer trends, when weight and bee activity increase for a few days or weeks, you either need to add another super or split the hive or collect the honey otherwise you will lose the hive and honey to a swarm.  With HiveGenie is easy to predict such events, so you can act before a swarm occurs.

The bee counter acts as an entrance reducer, giving bees a better chance of fighting off wasps.  The entrance size is smaller than the Asian Killer Hornets, so they can't get inside and kill the hive.  It will also protect from mice because they will not be able to enter the hive.  The HiveGenie however will provide no direct protection against hive beetle or wax moth.  But, we have found that having the bee counter all year round is a great practice to keep the hive warmer, which in turn helps the bees fight beetles and wax moths better.  Both of these pests are opportunists and will only attack weak hives or hives with lots of empty space. They will never attack a healthy hive, so having a monitor like HiveGenie that helps you manage empty hive space, will reduce the chances of hive beetle or wax moth attacks.
 

The forager population of a hive is directly dependent on the overall population.  So if the foraging activity (total bees out and in in a day) is consistently growing over time, it means that the queen is laying at a faster rate than the bees are dying, therefore the total population is increasing, which is good.  Of course, this measure lags 21 days behind the queen laying eggs but only lags a few days after the bees emerge from their cells.  On the other hand, when there is brood in the hive, bees forage more actively, so again, foraging activity is a good predictor of hive strength and brood availability.

Yes, our technology can recognize bumble bees, honey bees, and other types of bees. Due to the manufacturing complexity of these units, we offer this capability upon request. If you’re interested in ordering a unit, please send us a custom order request.

Yes, the trip monitors (a.k.a the gates) track both incoming and outgoing bee trips and flights. Every bee that enters or leaves the hive is counted or discounted.

The HiveGenie Monitor uses 14 advanced hive sensors to give you real-time data of your bees activities, inside and outside of the hive:

• Bee trip monitor - A bee count and traffic gates
• Location monitor - GPS enabled
• Weather monitor - temperature and humidity
• External conditions monitor - Light, UV radiation, and atmospheric pressure monitor
• 4 weight sensors
• In-hive thermometer
• In-hive humidity sensors
• In-hive light intensity sensor

Each HiveGenie weight sensor can measure up to 100lb. (45kg.) of weight. Collectively the four weight sensors can measure up to 400lb. (180kg.) of weight per hive.

Yes. We offer support over email or phone. For large orders we offer free on-location installation.