Tiny but mighty, honeybees play a crucial role in our ecosystems, pollinating various plants and crops. They also support the economy. These small producers contribute billions of dollars to Canada's agriculture industry, making Canada a major honey producer. However, in the winter of 2024, Canada's honey industry faced a severe collapse. Canada lost more than one-third of its beehives, primarily due to the widespread infestation of Varroa mites.

Hyperspectral (HS) imagery in agriculture is becoming increasingly common. These images have the advantage of higher spectral resolution. Advanced spectral processing techniques are required to unlock the information potential in these HS images. The present paper introduces a method rooted in multivariate statistics designed to detect parasitic Varroa destructor mites on the body of western honey bee Apis mellifera, enabling easier and continuous monitoring of the bee hives. The methodology explores unsupervised (K-means++) and recently developed supervised (Kernel Flows - Partial Least-Squares, KF-PLS) methods for parasitic identification. Additionally, in light of the emergence of custom-band multispectral cameras, the present research outlines a strategy for identifying the specific wavelengths necessary for effective bee-mite separation, suitable for implementation in a custom-band camera. Illustrated with a real-case dataset, our findings demonstrate that as few as four spectral bands are sufficient for accurate parasite identification.

Varroa destructor is a deadly stowaway that port authorities are determined to keep away from the bee population in the southeast Australian state of Victoria. Artificially intelligent beehives are being installed at Victorian ports to detect pests as they arrive at ships rapidly. "The Varroa mite is extremely destructive; it kills bees very rapidly," said Mary-Anne Thomas, the Victorian agriculture minister. "I would look forward to a project like the Purple Hive rolling out across the country. Purple Hive was launched on March 29 at the Port of Melbourne -- a solar-powered device that detects Varroa destructor, a mite that feeds on honey bees. Using artificial intelligence and cameras, Purple Hive provides alerts in real-time and has been trialed in New Zealand, where the mite is established. The technology scans each honey bee entering the Purple Hive to determine if Varroa mite is present. The hive is colored purple because it attracts bees. Thomas tweeted a picture of a hive being installed. "At #BegaCheese, we're absolutely buzzing with excitement to announce that B honey's Purple Hive has officially found its first home at the Port of Melbourne, as we join forces with @VicGovAg to help protect honey bee populations from Varroa destructor," read the tweet of Jimmy Coleman, marketing manager of digital and communications, Bega Cheese. "Varroa destructor is the world's most devastating pest of Western honey bees, Apis mellifera Linnaeus," as per the website of the University of Florida. "Accurate estimates of the effect of Varroa on the apiculture industry are hard to find, but it is safe to assume that the mites have killed hundreds of thousands of colonies worldwide, resulting in billions of dollars of economic loss." The adult female mites are reddish-brown to dark brown and oval. Adult males are yellowish with light tan legs and have a spherical body shape. Varroa destructor, the most significant single driver of the global honey bee health decline, was detected on a ship that entered the Port of Melbourne in 2018, but authorities stopped it from becoming an outbreak. "Australia is the only populated country in the world that the Varroa destructor hasn't impacted.

When some people hear the term'artificial intelligence' their initial reaction is to imagine a dystopian future where robots have risen up and overthrown humanity. The truth is, application of AI technology in our day-to-day lives is a lot less sinister. It might not be long before these technologies become common in our everyday lives. It's currently assisting with medical diagnosis, the creation of autonomous cars and to help improve businesses by analysing data and creating accurate forecasts of client or market behaviour. The application of AI is becoming more and more popular in businesses worldwide, with the potential to improve our lives in unexpected ways.

Bega Cheese has launched a network of smart beehives that can automatically detect parasites in a bid to safeguard Australian honey production. The Purple Hive Project uses 3D printed components to house 360 degree cameras that feed into an artificial intelligence algorithm that is capable of identifying healthy bees from those carrying the deadly varroa destructor mite. The solar-powered devices immediately send an alert to beekeepers to quarantine the affected hive to contain the spread of the mite, which has devastated bee colonies on every other continent. An initiative from Bega Cheese's B Honey brand, the devices can be fixed to existing beehives for round the clock monitoring at high-risk entry points to Australia, saving beekeepers from having to perform manual inspections. Unchecked infestations of varroa mites can cripple and even kill off entire hives within three to fours years, industry group BeeAware said.

Machine learning and all its related forms of "AI" are being used to work on just about every problem under the sun, but even so, stemming the alarming decline of the bee population still seems out of left field. In fact it's a great application for the technology and may help both bees and beekeepers keep hives healthy. The latest threat to our precious honeybees is the Varroa mite, a parasite that infests hives and sucks the blood from both bees and their young. While it rarely kills a bee outright, it can weaken it and cause young to be born similarly weak or deformed. Over time this can lead to colony collapse.