How robotic beehives use AI to protect bees from climate change
Bees are critical for ensuring an abundant food supply year-round, but the bee population is in big trouble.
More than one-third of the crops we eat are pollinated by bees, but 40% of bee colonies are collapsing each year, California-based Beewise said.
One reason is climate change – specifically, stronger hurricanes, more frequent fires and the use of more pesticides.
The wooden beehive was invented around 1850 for commercial pollination, but these basic boxes are not very protective and not at all nurturing.
Startup Beewise is taking on the traditional beehive with AI and robotics. The company invented the BeeHome, a robotic, AI-directed beehive that growers can rent.
“A robotic beehive is essentially like a traditional beehive. It’s completely backwards compatible, so it uses the same frame, same bees. We populate these robotic beehives, and in that robotic beehive, there’s cameras that monitor the bees,” said Saar Safra, CEO of Beewise.
The cameras connect with AI software that monitors each individual bee and identifies its needs. The robotic apparatus can then treat the bees according to their characteristics.
“So if there’s not enough food in the hive, there’s a food container inside this robotic beehive and the robot will take some food supply to the bees. Same thing with medicine, thermoregulation, too cold, too warm, there’s a storm. We can keep the bees comfortable in their home without them being harmed by external weather patterns,” said Safra.
Last year, hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged or destroyed thousands of commercial beehives in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina alone.
The BeeHome costs about the same as the traditional wooden beehive and can robotically manage up to 10 hives each, saving growers on labor costs. Next-gen products could scale that up dramatically — a feature particularly attractive to investors.
“You’ll be looking at a BeeHome in a few years that can not only manage 10, but go up to 40 or more. And that’s where you get a lot of operating margin and operating profit off of the same investment,” said John Caddedu, co-founder and general partner at Corner Ventures.
Safra said the Beehome results in 70% lower bee colony loss and healthier hives. There are already thousands of these operating in the field. Safra said revenue, device and customer growth have been enormous, adding that the devices are seeing gross margins of 40%.
In addition to Corner Ventures, Beewise is backed by Insight Partners, Fortissimo, Lool Ventures, and APG. Its total funding so far is $170 million.
CNBC producer Lisa Rizzolo contributed to this piece.
An electric air taxi by Joby Aviation flies near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 12, 2023.
Roselle Chen | Reuters
Air taxi maker Joby Aviation in a new lawsuit accused competitor Archer Aviation of using stolen information by a former employee to “one-up” a partnership deal with a real estate developer.
“This is corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,” Joby said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in a California Superior Court in Santa Cruz, where the company is based.
Archer and Joby did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that former U.S. state and local policy lead, George Kivork, downloaded dozens of files and sent some content to his personal email two days before he resigned in July to take a job at Archer, which had recruited him.
By August, Joby said a partner that worked with Kivork said it had been approached by Archer with a “more lucrative deal.” Joby alleges that the eVTOL rival’s understanding of “highly confidential” details helped it leverage negotiations.
Joby also said the developer attempted to terminate the agreement, citing a breach of confidentiality.
Kivork refused to return the files when Joby approached him after conducting an investigation, according to the suit. The company also said Archer denied wrongdoing, and would not disclose how it learned about the terms of the agreement or provide results from an internal investigation it allegedly undertook.
The lawsuit comes during a busy period for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology as companies race to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification to start flying commercially. ‘
The sector has also benefitted from President Donald Trump‘s newly minted eVTOL pilot program.
Joby argued in the complaint that it’s “imperative” to protect Joby’s work “from this type of espionage” to promote the sector’s success and ensure fair competition.
Last week, Joby said it completed its first test flight for a hybrid aircraft it’s working on with defense contractor L3Harris. This month, Amazon-backed Beta Technologies, another electric flight company, also went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Joby shares have more than doubled over the last year, while Archer is up about 68%.
In August 2023, Archer settled a previous legal dispute with Boeing-owned Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets. As part of the deal, Archer agreed to use Wisk as its autonomous tech partner.
A hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.
Joby and Archer year-to-date stock chart.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024