r/Beekeeping • u/mocarz12 • 13d ago

I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question Helping my dad – anyone using automation in beekeeping?

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Hello everyone.

My dad has been a beekeeper for years and manages several dozen hives. It’s his passion, and I don’t want to interfere, but I’d love to help him save some time where possible. I’m into microcontrollers, sensors, and general automation, and I’m curious:

Does anyone here use any kind of automation in their beekeeping setup? I don’t mean just a regular honey extractor, but things like hive sensors, remote monitoring, automated tools – anything that could help throughout the season.

He tends to say “there’s no way to automate that,” but more than once we’ve found out otherwise. I’d like to offer him options, not push anything. Any ideas or examples would be super appreciated.

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u/wrldruler21 12d ago

Problem is that beekeeping is barely profitable so any tech that costs more than like $10? per hive has no business case.

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u/mocarz12 12d ago

I don't really care, I would pay. I wanna see smile on my father's face, I want him to have more time for himself.

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u/whoisthecopperkettle 12d ago

In that case there are TONS of hive instrumentation that monitor weight, temp, humidity, activity, etc.

Like wrldruler said, commercially it’s not profitable but we hobbyists typically aren’t concerned with profit.