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Using Technology To Monitor Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Winter Clusters: A Study In Comparative Advantages Of Thermal Imaging And Temperature/Humidity Sensing Technologies, Andrea Kress

Honors Projects

Introduction: Wintertime is difficult for many beekeepers, as honey bees must keep themselves warm and dry while surviving on food stores from previous seasons ^[4]. Honey bees are able to survive such cold temperatures by vibrating their bodies in a cluster, which moves throughout the hive, to keep themselves and the queen warm and dry ^[4]. Outside temperatures greatly influence the efficiency of the internal cluster of the hive ^[4]. Honey bee colonies have the most efficient (i.e. least amount of energy spent and least amount of food stores used) clusters when the outside temperature is between …