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Student 10-Minute Paper

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student

Student Regular P-IE and PBT

Timing the flights of individual honey bees with a Raspberry Pi camera system

Sunday, November 5, 2023
3:42 PM - 3:54 PM ET
Location: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor 7
In-Person
AprilTag is a system of 2-D barcodes which are used in many robotics and augmented reality applications. They have also found some use in entomological studies, such as hive entrance monitoring and studying the behavior of individual honey bees, since they can be detected at very small sizes. Our goal is to create a more automated system that can be used in remote farm locations and at a large scale. Previous work has demonstrated the potential of AprilTag as an accessible and low cost method for monitoring individual insect behavior. Because these tags can be easily printed on paper, we use them as an inexpensive method for monitoring individual honey bees as they enter and exit the hive. We tag the foragers with 2.5mm paper AprilTags and non-toxic glue. The tags are read with a Raspberry Pi and camera module placed above the hive entrance. When the tag is detected, its location and orientation are recorded as well as its ID number. A network of Raspberry Pi units, powered by solar panels, collects this data from six hives over a long period of time. With this, the time at which individual foragers enter and exit the hive can be recorded to time foraging flights and estimate a hive's foraging radius.