An Infrared based Real-Time Monitoring System of Bees Activities: The Integration of STEM and Enviromental Education

Abstract Global climate change has a devastating impact on human life, including the agricultural sector. It is urgent that the environmental education must be taught as early as possible to the younger generation. Bees that play a crucial role in pollination are vulnerable to the environmental change. Observation and detection of the bee’s activity are crucial to inform us the possible occurrence of a Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) phenomenon, in which the population of bees drops significantly due to many external factors. A real-time monitoring system of bee’s activities based on infrared sensor and Internet of Things (IoT) platform has been designed as a STEM project for undergraduate students. This instrument can monitor the in-and-out activity of bees remotely using internet and website’s interface. In four days of observation, the average activity of bees leaving the hive per minute showed an increasing pattern from 1.00 to 2.00 PM. The result indicates a healthy population of bees and no clear sign of CCD occurred in the area. Other phenomena such as the heat-balling behavior which arises during the observation which also enrich student knowledge about animal behaviour.