May 19, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

As World Bee Day is May 20, ApisProtect, an Irish agtech startup working to save the world’s bee population, announced it has joined the Microsoft for Startup program, forging a strategic partnership that will allow ApisProtect to use Microsoft technologies to scale its business over the course of the coming two years. 

“Our bee monitoring technology will enable beekeepers to manage their apiaries more effectively and focus on cultivating larger and stronger colonies,” said Dr. Fiona Edwards Murphy, CEO of ApisProtect. “We are delighted to be working with Microsoft as we scale our company globally over the next two years.”

Traditionally, beekeepers would have to rely on periodic manual hive checks that were inefficient in regard to detecting diseases, pests, and other issues that can significantly damage or eliminate a hive. Founded by preeminent researchers, including Dr. Edwards Murphy, the most widely published author on the Internet of Things (IoT) and honey bees, ApisProtect uses the IoT to monitor honeybee colonies via real-time hive monitoring powered by long-range, cellular, and satellite-enabled sensors that are retrofitted to existing beehives.

The company then applies proprietary big data and machine learning techniques to convert the raw data collected on hive conditions, health, and activity levels into valuable information and actionable insights for beekeepers, providing a 24/7 early warning system for at-risk hives, and giving beekeepers actionable insights to help prevent losses and improve productivity.

Recognized by many for its work – ApisProtect has received awards from the Irish Research Council, The IEEE, IBM, The Irish Laboratory Awards, Google, and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit – and was an emerging company that presented at the AgTech Nexus 2017 Start-Up Hub in Dublin. This opportunity introduced ApisProtect to the investors that enabled the startup’s raising of $1.8 million in Seed funding in November 2018, which was co-led by top-tier venture capital investors Finistere Ventures and Atlantic Bridge Capital, and included Radicle Growth, the Yield Lab, and Enterprise Ireland.

“For the last 20 to 30 years, bees have been facing problems that they never experienced before in history. Our technology is helping the beekeeper apply the knowledge that they already have, but in a much more effective and controlled manner,” Dr. Edwards Murphy told GAI News in November 2018.

“Our ApisMonitor units use IoT technology, including in-hive sensors and long-range wireless communication, to monitor the health of honeybees.

Using this sensor data together with big data and machine learning techniques, we can provide actionable insights and alerts to help beekeepers prevent losses and increase productivity in their colonies.”

Bee Mindful 

Bees pollinate approximately one third of the crops we eat, and approximately 75 percent of the specialty crops grown, contributing $174 billion in pollination value across the agri-food industry per year from the 91 million managed beehives worldwide. 

And although the USDA notes in a July 17 report that bee populations in North America have been in decline since the 1940s, it was a little more than 10 years ago when a crisis hit when thousands of hives were lost and a new disorder was termed: colony collapse disorder.

Mysteriously, worker bees would suddenly abandon a hive, leaving the queen, brood, or young bees, a few nurse bees, and full reserves of pollen and honey behind. However, a hive cannot function properly without its worker bees and would soon die.

During the 2006/2007 season, beekeepers began reporting losses of between 30 and 90 percent of their hives without apparent cause. Much scientific work has been done in an attempt to discover the root cause, but bees and their keepers are still struggling. In the 2015/16 winter season, U.S. commercial beekeepers lost 38 percent of their colonies – more than double the considered acceptable loss of 15 percent, according to a report published by the Journal of Apicultural Research. And in 2018/19, in the U.S. alone, beekeepers lost 40 percent of their colonies, representing the worst loss in 13 years. 

“In many countries, up to 50 percent of our honey bees are dying every year,” said Dr. Edwards Murphy. “A host of problems, diseases, and pests are devastating hive populations around the globe. It’s becoming harder and harder every year for beekeepers to manage the variety of problems their bees are experiencing. By providing beekeepers with insights into what is happening in the hive, we can help beekeepers reduce losses and improve the health of honey bees worldwide.”

Currently ApisProtect is monitoring 20 million honey bees in Europe, North America, and South Africa. And with the application of its technology together with Microsoft’s tools, beekeepers will no longer have to rely only on periodic, manual hive checks that can often miss disease, pest, and other issues until they result in deteriorating hive health beyond rescue.

“Our mission at ApisProtect, is to save the honey bees, because if we don’t take action now, we’ll lose our most important insect ally,” said Dr. Edwards Murphy. “We want to secure the supply of one-third of our diet, and make sure we can nourish and feed the 9.7 billion people on planet earth by 2050.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.