Project description
AI to help save busy bees
Bees are miracle workers. As pollinators, these winged insects ensure food security and nutrition and maintain biodiversity and ecosystems. Three out of four crops producing fruit and seeds depend on pollinators. While the demand for pollination increases, bee colonies are collapsing. In this context, the EU-funded BeeHome project will develop a platform designed to automate beekeeping, honey production, and optimise pollination. Powered by robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), the new platform will house up to 40 hives and streamline their activities by tending to the needs of each bee colony, preventing migration and potential problems to keep bees safe and busy.
Objective
In recent years annual colony losses have reached an unprecedented ~30%. Sustaining apiaries in the face of Colony Collapse Disorder based on traditional labour-intensive work practices has become a determinate on apiaries’ profitability. Difficulties associated with production of honey combined with the ongoing increase in consumer demand for results in a sharp rise of honey prices. Furthermore, since the 1990’s the rate of increase in pollination-based agriculture has sharply increased, surpassing the average increase in the number of hives. This increase in demand for pollination services combined with the ongoing growing colony loss crises creates a severe shortage in bees for pollination - bees are highly effective pollinators with an annual global contribution to crop productivity of €147 billion. BeeHome is a patent-protected modular commercial apiary that automates beekeeping powered by AI. The BeeHome platform consists of hardware and software solution that fully automates beekeeping and honey production and optimizes pollination. The platform will house up to 40 colonies (hives) and streamline their activities. The hardware and software architecture enables BeeHome to act upon information, thus taking care of the individual needs of each bee colony, preventing and mitigating of potential problems before they become detrimental to the health of the colony. Such an approach will greatly diminish colony loss (80% reduction), considerably increase yields (50% increase), and significantly reduce labour costs (90% reduction). Bees’ role as pollinators is crucial: 30% of the food humans consume originates from bee pollination. The scale of current demand dictates that now is the right time to introduce this level of innovation to this very laggard industry. BeeHome is a complete paradigm shift within the field of beekeeping. The product will introduce AI, computer vision and state of the art robotics to the field of beekeeping.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology apidology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science domestic animals animal husbandry
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science apiculture
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2523300 OSHRAT
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.