The Redditch-based manufacturer of computing, power, and communications products has won a contract for its components division for the supply of hardware to be used in Bee Hive monitoring to a US based client to improve bee health and crop pollination. T with a project value of approximately £2.4m.
The client, a USA-based precision pollination service, uses technology that ensures the pollination process lives up to farm standard quality every season. By monitoring hives, it produces stronger, healthier, and more productive colonies, while lowering operational costs.
The sensors (which took three years to perfect) are placed in the middle of the hive, a range of data across various parameters is collected, and cutting-edge communications hardware sends this data to the cloud. In this way, the client can detect concerning changes in hive behaviour which may indicate ill health or stress, or a change in hive conditions which threatens the bees’ wellbeing. The beekeepers are alerted and can rapidly address the issues, helping to reduce the mortality rate.
The client has the capacity to rapidly scale up. Its aim is to go from its current 48,000 hives, the equivalent of 1.5 billion bees, to 300,000 hives during the next eight months. The smart hives have proven to be extremely successful, increasing yields for 70% of major crops by an average of up to 30%.
CEO and Co-Founder of the unnamed client said: “The radio modules successfully supplied by Solid State Supplies have made a significant impact to our business. Without them, the lack of crop pollination could have put the business back 12 months, while missing a season would have meant the loss of crucial data, hindering our ambition of going from fourth largest pollinator in the U.S. to the largest.”
Matt Cook, Product Marketing Manager at Solid State Supplies, added: “It was an unprecedented situation. We knew that it would be a challenge to not just source the modules, but also deliver them in time; however, we were adamant that it was possible, and we proved that we could do what our rivals couldn’t.
“It has been a priority at Solid State to develop close, robust supplier relationships, to ensure we can source sufficient product for our customers.”