Gobuzzr‘s IoT-powered solution helps beekeepers and apiaries monitor hives in real-time through weight, internal humidity, temperature and sounds of the bees
The agritech startup is currently working with beekeepers and apiaries in Zimbabwe and the UK
It gives farmers customised solutions to help them maintain a healthy hive, increase productivity and income
The humble and oft-ignored honeybee is one of the most crucial links in natural food production and vegetation growth. So while most know bees as the source of honey, a healthy bee population actually indicates the overall health and fertility of the natural habitat or ecosystem.
But apiarists or bee farmers are not always considered in the same class as farmers that produce grains and crops. This is seen in challenges such as pests and predators, climate change, lack of credit for the beekeeping sector, costly beekeeping equipment, water shortage, and lack of skilled labour.
At the same time, the demand for honey is going through the roof, especially as natural and healthy alternatives come into focus amid the pandemic crisis. Honey has emerged as the best alternative for sugar and other artificial sweeteners. According to market research company IMARC Group, the honey market in India is growing at a CAGR of 10%, and is expected to reach a value of INR 28 Bn by 2024.
But at the same time, Indian bee farmers could be extracting more value from the global market as well and this is where technology is playing a role, especially with the progress in IoT or Internet of Things that are helping farmers analyse data from beekeeping.
Chennai-based agritech startup Gobuzzr has claimed to have developed a state-of-the-art IoT solution that keeps a check on beehives in apiaries, by monitoring weight of the hive, internal humidity, temperature and sounds to determine the health of the hive in real-time. Farmers can get this data through a web portal or mobile app.
Founded in 2019 by G Kapildev, Gobuzzr emerged as an idea when the founder visited Zimbabwe in a previous professional role to execute a project for a client named Prophet W Magaya, who is the founder of PHD Ministries. Magaya, who is also a producer and exporter of honey, owns close to 30K apiaries in the southern African country. During the visit to one such bee farm, Kapildev noticed how farmers struggled to extract honey and how the hive’s well being was being monitored by guesswork and instinct reasonably than knowledge. A number of the practices had been additionally merciless to the bee inhabitants, which Kapildev significantly needed to alter.
“Gobuzzr will not only put an end to the choking of thousands of innocent bees in the process, but also reduce transportation cost and cut down manual labour cost. Most importantly, this will show the health condition of the bees and beehives, remotely and in real-time, thereby increasing the productivity of honey and agri-farming,” Kapildev G instructed Inc42.
The agritech startup claims to be the primary in India to be working in beekeeping, nevertheless it has some competitors within the international area. A number of the buzzworthy startups within the apiary monitoring house embrace ApisProtect, BuzzBox, Bee Good Applied sciences, BeeHero, The Bee Corp amongst others.
How Gobuzzr Leverages IoT
Gobuzzr’s tech platform is constructed across the IoT system referred to as ‘Beehive Monitor,’ which is mounted on the backside of every beehive. Embedded with a GPS sensor, this system additional helps farmers establish the place the hive is situated and sensors additionally monitor the burden of the beehive in real-time. The system sends the information to the cloud periodically, which is then transmitted to the cellular software. The IoT system additionally screens temperature, humidity of the hive, and well being situation of the beehive.
“The queen bees often communicate with its army in a particular frequency, and we are currently working on a sensor which captures this frequency in real-time, thereby indicating the health condition of the beehive,” defined Kapil, on how they entry the well being of apiaries.
Leveraging the ability of massive knowledge and machine studying, Gobuzzr mentioned that it gathers data from a number of knowledge sources, together with the wholesome and diseased hives, reviews from numerous inspections from completely different hives throughout the globe. These predictions and knowledge, when put by its algorithms, give farmers actionable insights to maintain the hive wholesome, enhance productiveness and stop lack of bees.
The system may detect threats akin to fireplace, motion of hives, sudden modifications in temperatures, which can point out pure calamities and exterior elements. The IoT system is alleged to be 95% correct by way of the prediction of well being.
“We have researched in-house and worked with multiple farmers for about a year to get this number,” mentioned Kapildev. Whereas the product continues to be within the growth stage, the corporate is working to make it reasonably priced and geography agnostic.
Buzzing Round Bee Information
Gobuzzr mentioned that it’s at the moment working with Zimbabwe’s Magaya and some particular person farmers within the UK to check their merchandise and are learning the behaviour of bees and beehives. “We have been getting a lot of queries from Indian farmers, but we are not there yet as we are upgrading our prototypes to accommodate beehives as per India’s climate,” mentioned Kapildev.
By way of value, the pricing for the worldwide shoppers would come as much as $160 per apiary, per consumer, which they’re at the moment working to scale back to $80 for each Indian in addition to international market.
This contains the IoT system together with the apiary set up and the app, and extras like solar energy resolution. “We are currently working towards deploying close to 5000 devices for free to the Indian farmers, where we will also be partnering with agriculture colleges to monitor and study the condition of bees and beehives,” the founder mentioned.
“Once the mass adoption happens and we have the data, we will be charging users on a subscription basis per apiary,” mentioned Kapildev. The corporate mentioned that it’s constructing options centered on bee hobbyists, small and huge scale farmers.
At the moment, working its enterprise in a bootstrapped mode, Kapildev mentioned he has invested near INR 25 Lakh – INR 40 Lakh to develop the product. Within the coming months, it seems to boost funding and collaborate with apiary farmers who wish to produce honey on a big scale.
“This kind of product needs a little bit of push from the government as well as private players in terms of investments, which helps us create more volume, analysing data and setting up of different models,” mentioned Kapildev.
