The FEE's bees have their own beekeeper

Researchers have adopted a laboratory beehive concept developed through their long-term collaboration with experts in robotics, artificial intelligence and biology at the University of Graz in Austria.

Having the hives directly at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering means that researchers can now conduct many experiments locally instead of relying exclusively on facilities abroad. They now have daily access to the colonies, allowing them to quickly modify hardware, fine-tune algorithms, and immediately address both technical and biological challenges. The new laboratory will also provide valuable hands-on research opportunities for FEE students.

The researchers will use the hives in several research projects. One of them, RoboRoyale, focuses on studying the social behaviour of honeybees inside the hive. Cameras and sensors continuously monitor activity within the colony, reducing the need to open the hive solely for research observations. The researchers' ambition is to develop technologies that improve understanding of colony behaviour while disturbing the bees as little as possible.

"Our goal is not to control or manage bees with robots, but rather to advise them," says Tomáš Rouček from the Chronorobotics Laboratory.

The new bee laboratory at FEE will also support the European SENSORBEES project, which explores the use of bee colonies as biological sensors of their environment. The project aims to monitor pollinator activity, flowering plant diversity, brood development, pollen collection, and the relationship between bee behaviour, weather conditions, and the surrounding environment.

Computer vision algorithms process enormous amounts of image data collected inside the hives - up to approximately 1.5 TB per day. They can automatically track the queen bee's movements, her interactions with worker bees, brood care, and long-term changes within the honeycomb. The researchers are also investigating how bees respond to precisely controlled stimuli and whether the presence of cameras or robotic devices influences their behaviour.

The bees have their own room. Along with the beekeeper Augustin Uváčik

Alongside the research team, the bees are cared for by experienced beekeeper Augustin Uváčik, a well-known advocate of urban rooftop beekeeping who also supplied the colonies used in the laboratory. His bee colonies pollinate Prague from rooftops across the city. The bees at FEE benefit from nearby green roofs, Charles Square - incidentally largest square in the Czech Republic - and other green spaces providing abundant forage.

A beekeeper regularly monitors the bees' health and well-being while contributing his practical expertise in urban beekeeping to the research team. The colonies have their own dedicated room in the FEE building at Charles Square. They leave and return through enclosed flight tubes leading directly outdoors, ensuring they do not interfere with the normal operation of the faculty.

The Department of Computer Science at FEE CTU is also preparing to relaunch the Be a Bee virtual reality experience, originally developed as part of the PHÄNOMENA project in Switzerland. Using two micro-cameras installed inside the hives, visitors will be able to experience the hive from a bee's perspective and virtually find themselves among thousands of honeybees.

Contacts:

Tomáš Krajník: krajnt1@fel.cvut.cz

Tomáš Rouček: rouceto1@fel.cvut.cz