Computing graduate students work on the Web application. Pictured are
Ehsan Valizadeh, David Qorashi and Sam Serpoosh.
Online network connects honeybee keepers and researchers
May 30, 2014
One out of three bites of food, or one-third of our diet, is linked
to the direct work of the honeybee. But honeybees are mysteriously
disappearing, and faculty members at Grand Valley State University are
using technology to understand why.
Professors and students building a Web application that has the
potential to connect honeybee keepers with researchers across the
country. The keepers register a hive, assign it to a scale and track
daily cycles such as weight, humidity and temperature. The data
collected can become a research tool for scientists to discover
patterns that could shed light on the problem.
Anne Marie Fauvel, professor of liberal studies, said the number
of honeybees that survive the winter is low every year. “This is
serious because the bees that survive are the ones that continue a
colony or establish new ones in the spring,” she said. “Last year, 36
percent were lost. Twenty years ago, it was only 8 percent.”
Their goal is for the Web application to become a nationwide effort.
Read more about the project in the spring issue of Grand Valley Magazine.
For more information, contact Anne Marie Fauvel at
[email protected] or (616) 331-8020, or Jonathan Engelsma, professor of
computing, at [email protected] or (616) 331-2049.
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