Research & Evidence
HiveSense is built on published bee science. This page lists the peer-reviewed studies, citizen-science datasets, and primary sources that inform our sensor parsers, varroa thresholds, and AI monitoring models.
- Colony health
2024–2025 US Beekeeping Survey
Auburn University, Apiary Inspectors of America & Oregon State UniversityUS beekeepers lost 55.6% of managed colonies between April 2024 and April 2025 — the highest annual loss since tracking began in 2010–11 — from 2,453 respondents managing 219,097 colonies. Winter losses (40.2%) drove the figure. This survey replaced the Bee Informed Partnership national survey, which ceased in 2023.
Open source - Varroa management
Amitraz Resistance in French Varroa Mite Populations—More Complex Than a Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism
Marsky, Rognon, Douablin, Viry, Rodríguez Ramos & Hammaidi — Insects 15(6):390 (2024). DOI 10.3390/insects15060390Finds no clear genotype split between perished and surviving mites, so amitraz resistance is not explained by one genetic marker and no simple field assay settles it. This is why HiveSense frames rotation behaviourally — re-wash 10–14 days after every treatment — rather than promising a resistance test.
Open source - BLE sensing
Buzzing with Intelligence: A Systematic Review of Smart Beehive Technologies
Šabić, Perković, Šolić & Šerić — Sensors 25(17):5359 (2025). DOI 10.3390/s25175359Reviews 135 peer-reviewed studies in precision apiculture. Environmental sensors appear in ~49% and acoustic in ~39%; deep learning has risen to roughly a third of recent work. Names dataset diversity, edge-device compute limits and field energy harvesting as the standing constraints — the reasons HiveSense reads sensors directly over BLE rather than assuming a gateway.
Open source - AI monitoring
Evaluating the new product Norroa™ against Varroa destructor in managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies
Rawn, Prouty, Gautam, Jamison, Talton, Youngs, Narva, Manley & Jack — Frontiers in Insect Science 1751606 (2026). DOI 10.3389/finsc.2026.1751606Field trial of an RNAi biopesticide targeting the calmodulin gene in Varroa destructor: over 40% reduction in mite reproduction, with efficacy varying by season. Positions RNAi as a rotation partner within integrated pest management, not a replacement for existing actives.
Open source - BLE sensing
BroodMinder open data and methodology
BroodMinder.comThe manufacturer's research portal publishes the raw BLE packet format and reference datasets used by HiveSense to decode T2, TH, and W sensors.
Open source - AI monitoring
OpenAI Whisper — speech recognition model
OpenAI researchThe on-device speech-to-text model HiveSense uses for voice inspection notes. The published paper documents word-error-rate benchmarks across noise conditions including outdoor recordings.
Open source
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