Content

1. Introduction
2. How Beeline helps

Introduction

In quarantine, it may seem that there are no other troubles left in the world. Unfortunately, it is not. Beeline recently held an interesting online conference on the extinction of the honey bee. This problem has long worried scientists around the world.

By the way, I would like to share an interesting fact. It may seem logical to many that “Beeline” takes care of bees – both the name and the colors seem to hint – but the word “beeline” has another meaning. It turns out that “beeline” is a straight line between two places. For example, the phrase “make a beeline for” means “take the shortest route.” And as a verb “to beeline” means “to go quickly and directly to someone.” In such values, “Beeline” is a more logical name for a telecom operator, right? Just in case, I checked the words “Megafon” and “MTS” in the dictionaries. There were no revelations.

The massive decline in bee populations around the world threatens environmental, social and economic consequences. Bees are the main pollinators of plants. Without them, there will be no harvest, many plants may die, which will change the landscape. And from an economic point of view, the loss of crops will lead to a decrease in the number of people employed in agriculture, many agricultural producers will go bankrupt. According to the UN, 70% of all crops in the world, which are the basis of food security for the entire planet, are pollinated by bees.

Bees are getting smaller all over the world. In Russia, in 2019, a massive death of insects was noted in 30 subjects of the Federation. Died 80 thousand bee colonies (in one bee colony, that is, a hive, about 60-90 thousand bees). In a number of regions, the proportion of dead bees in some families reached 40% (with an average long-term death rate of 10-12% of the total number of bees in a family). According to a number of foreign studies, if the search for an effective solution is not started now, then by 2035 the honey bee may disappear from the list of pollinators, which will lead to catastrophic consequences.

Among the main reasons for the death of bees are:

• Changing of the climate. Bees die regularly due to frequent weather anomalies
• Diseases and parasites (bees suffer from mites!)
• According to research by scientists, one of the main reasons for the death of pollinating insects is the improper use of pesticides, including those containing neonicotinoids, which are often used to treat rapeseed.
• Another important factor is the lack of a culture of farming. Because of this, farmers make many mistakes. For example, the fields were more often treated with pesticides, they did it at the wrong time, as a result of which the bees died. At the same time, farmers, who must understand the importance of pollination, prefer not to think about it. Previously, the Rosselkhoznadzor monitored such a thing, but this duty was removed from him.

Some interesting facts:

• If we talk about farmers, there are also positive examples. For example, in Altai, farmers are already paying for pollination and are interested in the abundance of bees. I didn’t know, but it turns out that there is such a profession when a person with hives rides around the region. Arrives in a given area. Releases bees. They fly there, pollinate, farmers pay money.
• There are already regions in the world where there is a shortage of bees. An example was the cultivation of pears in China: farmers hire people to climb trees with brushes and pollinate flowers. Each flower tassel!
• Globally, 70% of crops depend on pollination and 90% of wild plants for flowers. Wild plants are doomed without bees.
• We must go to the Bashkiria National Park. This is the South Urals, the border of Europe and Asia. There is a strictly guarded territory, no harmful factors. And this is one of the few places in the world and the only one in Europe where wild bees are still pollinating. However, the trouble got there. From time to time, when checking the quality of local honey, traces of pesticides are found in it. This means that the bees fly outside the reserve.
• There are more than 20 species of bees in the world! By the way, when I was in Sochi at one time, I went on an excursion to the local apiary. They said that local Caucasian bees live here, which have the longest proboscis in the world. Also, bees are kind and do not bite if you do not offend them. And you could even feed them from your hand by pouring honey syrup.

• Bees are called nature’s thermometer. Bee populations are sensitive to change and die when something goes wrong in nature. In Europe, Greenpeace has already secured a ban on 5 of the 7 most damaging pesticides.
• Neonicotinoids are a relatively small class of organic compounds – insecticides. Neonicotinoids bind to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, in low doses it causes nervous excitement, in high doses it leads to paralysis and death. The drugs are very toxic to bees, cause intestinal upset and their subsequent death, the so-called chemical toxicosis. In France, since 1999, all neonicotinoids have been banned after a year of their use. However, as of 2017, thiacloprid (the drug “Calypso”) is allowed there for the treatment of fruit crops. Since 2013, the EU has banned three types of neonicotinoids for outdoor use: imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Neonicotinoids containing a cyano group (acetamiprid and thiacloprid) are much less toxic (by 3 orders of magnitude) to bees.

How Beeline helps

Beeline drew attention to the problem when, while monitoring socially significant topics, they noticed that, compared to 2018, the number of reports of the death of bees has more than doubled.

One of the main reasons for the death of bees in Russia is the lack of coordination of communication and transfer of information between all participants in agricultural processes. Simply put, a certain farmer decides to treat the fields with chemicals, does it without warning, and not at night, while the bees are sleeping, but during the day, when the bee’s day is in full swing.

At the moment, all the invented solution methods, in fact, are created on the knee. These are either local groups in messengers and social networks, or electronic message boards, or personal contacts. And there is no single federal solution.

Beeline took the initiative into their own hands and, in partnership with representatives of all stakeholders, set about creating a universal information platform. And they have already promised that they will develop it for at least 3 years, so that later it will be transferred to the specialized community and authorities, and Beeline would oversee the technical component.

What does the platform do?

The platform allows data exchange between beekeepers and farmers. Without revealing the location of fields and apiaries, the platform automatically warns about the treatment of nearby fields with pesticides. To connect to the platform, you just need to register. The platform can be viewed at save-bees.rf

Each registered beekeeper and farmer can only see their fields and apiaries on the map. Farmers mark the fields and beekeepers mark the apiaries. Farmers must enter the dates and times in the application when they plan to cultivate their fields. Accordingly, beekeepers will receive notifications that the fields near the habitat of their bees (7 km from the apiary) will be processed and there is no need to let the bees walk. And there is even an emergency alert function. Nice thing, but I’m not sure if you can just call the bees home like that. The experience of beekeepers who have already suffered from the death of bees shows that it is advisable to notify at least 3 days before the planned cultivation of the fields. This will allow timely action to be taken to reduce the risk of pesticide poisoning. For example, move the hives to a safe place.

The conference was attended by representatives of the state, who showed interest in the Beeline initiative.

Future development?

However, the capabilities of Beeline are much more extensive, so I would venture to suggest that the development of the platform is only the first step.

In recent years, Beeline has become one of the leaders among operators in network development, installation of base stations and network upgrade to 5G-Ready. In addition to purely technical bonuses, such as an increase in the speed of mobile Internet and network quality, this means an increase in the amount of data that Beeline can handle.

High-quality mobile network coverage allows us to talk about the presence of infrastructure and the beginning of the era of the Internet of Things, which implies the use of many different sensors. For example, one of the key indicators of the health of a bee colony is the sounds of the hive. The buzzing of the hive allows you to assess the health of the population, the activity and psychological state of the bees. And, of course, sensors simultaneously determine the temperature, humidity and even the weight of the hive. Until now, many beekeepers make all measurements practically in manual mode, based on their personal experience. This is ineffective. By the way, this is how a healthy hive should sound.

Another example of using state of the art sound sensors in partnership with a good mobile network is an overall audiophone rating. Modern sensors and AI algorithms can detect the buzzing of hornets that threaten colonies. Beekeepers will be able to protect their pets.

One example of sensors for monitoring a beehive created in Canada

Other parasites that bees suffer from are mites. Some countries are already installing cameras in front of the hives to keep track of the bees. Of course, you can’t watch all the videos manually. You need a powerful infrastructure for high-speed data transfer and post-processing. The mobile Internet is an indispensable companion for such solutions.

“Beeline”, like, indeed, all mobile operators, on the “you” with artificial intelligence and processing of big data. Otherwise, it’s just not possible Namely, solutions based on artificial intelligence can save bees in the future. In addition to the pesticide troubles, there is the CCD, or Colony Collapse Disorder. This problem, when bees die en masse for no reason, still remains unanswered. And if we imagine that data collection will be organized on the basis of the Beeline platform in the future, then a wide scope for analytics will open up. And AI differs from humans in that it can tirelessly drive billions of different options in search of solution keys.

The universal platform “Beeline” is the beginning of the path, the first step, which can become an excellent basis for the development and assessment of the state of beekeeping in Russia. Several sensors in the apiary, high-quality mobile Internet, and it is already possible to upload data to the cloud, where they will be systematized, accumulated, compared and analyzed. Beekeepers will not only be able to monitor the status of insects, but also receive recommendations. Similar software solutions already exist in the world. And with the proper desire on the part of all interested parties, I believe that in the future Beeline will easily be able to provide assistance in landing software on its platform.

Finally, just listen to the sounds of the hive and look at the beautiful bees!

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