Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk and Dr. David Firth from the Univerisity of Montana are working together on a new application for beekeepers called Bee Health Guru.  The application uses artificial intelligence (AI) to listen to the sound and based upon complex algorithms and learned history, can provide a diagnosis of the colony's health. Simply amazing.

Jerry and David join Jeff & Kim on this episode to talk about the history of the technology and the ongoing research of the technology under-pinnings of the cell phone app.

At the beginning of the podcast, you can hear Jeff listening to a audio clip of a 2-deep colony of bees at rest. Then suddenly, no... instantly, their tone changes. Could you tell what happened? The audio file was provided by Dr. Bromenshenk. In the recording, a colony of honey bees 'at rest' are given one (1) drop of toluene.  The communication through the hive was instantaneous. Bees communicate more than we knew and the Bee Health Guru app hopes to help us translate just what they're saying!

Links and websites mention in the episode:

• Bee Health Guru: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehealthguru/bee-health-guru-a-smartphone-app-for-beekeepers
• University of Montana Master Beekeeper Program: https://www.umt.edu/sell/programs/bee/

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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Jerry and David!

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

 Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"