AUTOMOMOUS REPORTING AND TRACKING OF PESTICIDE INCIDENTS IN HONEY BEE COLONIES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1002801
• Grant No.: 2014-33610-21930
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $100,000.00
• Proposal No.: 2014-00289
• Project Start Date: Jun 1, 2014
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2015
• Grant Year: 2014
• Program Code: [8.13]- Plant Production and Protection-Engineering

Recipient Organization
BEE ALERT TECHNOLOGY, INC.
1620 RODGER ST., SUITE #1
MISSOULA,MT 59802

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
This project is aimed at helping plant production and protection by providing a means of rapid, autonomous reporting of pesticide incidents impacting honey bee colonies. We propose research leading to the design of an electronic device to monitor bee colonies for exposure to pesticides, specifically neonicotinoids in Phase I, and to remotely notify appropriate parties (e.g., beekeeper, grower, researcher) of the event. Project objectives include research to: 1) subject honey bees to controlled pesticide exposures and record the acoustic responses, 2) construct an Artificial Neural Network to discriminate changes in bee sounds for different chemical categories of pesticides, and 3) design an autonomous system to remotely alert the beekeeper or relevant agency.

Animal Health Component

30%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

30%

Developmental

70%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
211	5220	1130	100%

Knowledge Area
211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
5220 - Pesticides;

Field Of Science
1130 - Entomology and acarology;

Keywords

acoustic

autonomous monitoring

honey bee

pesticide

pollinator protection

Goals / Objectives
Subjecting honey bees to controlled chronic and acute pesticide exposures and recording audio.Construction of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) specifically tuned for pesticide exposure events.Design the autonomous monitoring device to include the necessary communication and monitoring hardware.Testing the operation of the hive-mounted monitoring device

Project Methods
Testing will be performed on both chronic and acute exposures. Separate testing using an isolation chamber will determine the dose amounts to deliver chronic and acute exposure events.We will use two different methods of introducing the pesticide to the colony; ingestion and contact. For ingestion, the pesticide will be dissolved in sucrose water for direct uptake by the bees. For contact, a nebulizer will be used to introduce a vapor to the bees. Each test will be conducted on 6 different bee colonies, with 6 control colonies included for each dosing level.Audio collection will consist of a digital Marantz PMD670 recorder (saves all data to solid-state memory flash cards - no tape), a microphone amplifier (SME 2100) from Saul Mineroff Electronics and two 1/8 inch diameter, 12 inch long, probe microphones. We will also be using our ultrasonic recording system developed.Audio data will be preparded for analysis using the Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator, a powerful tool for designing and testing Artificial Neural Networks. For the Phase I project, verification of the ANN accuracy will be limited to 1) the ANN training results (how well the ANN has learned the pattern), and 2) percentage of correct identification of test signals.These devloped algorithms will be incorporated into an embedded system of our design with a satellite communication option.

Progress 06/01/14 to 01/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience: Missoula was fortunate to host the 2nd International Workshop on Hive and Bee Monitoring as part of the 37th Annual Western Apicultural Society Conference, in which we presented the preliminary results of the project. The synopsis was published in the February 2015 issue of the Journal of the Western Apicultural Society of North America. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Bee Alert had the good fortune to host three Native American students' research assistants participating in the Bridges to Baccalaureate program. Each of the students presented posters at their own conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A Quad chart describing the system, advantages, use and application has been distributed to potential commercial supporter, and will soon apear on our web page www.beealerttechnology.com What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. we have exposed colonies of honey bees to lethal and to sub lethal levels of Clothianidin, a neonicotinoid pesticide. Over 3900 digital audio recordings were collected and analyzed. 2. Data analysis of the recordings is complete, with 224 different data combinations completed by the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). These combinations compare the sounds between control and dose experiments, chronic and acute exposures, indoor and outdoor exposures, and combinations and contrasts between each data set. 3. Three functional, four-colony, pallet-based, solar-powered hive scales with on board data acquisition and processing, and satellite uplink for remote communications were designed and constructed. 4. Bee Alert Technology has developed and commenced Beta-Testing in Montana and California a remote monitored hive scale with acoustic capture capabilities.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Acoustic Scanning of colonies to detect exposure to pesticides, Journal of the Western Apicultural Society of North America, February 2015, pg. 22