VIDEO: Smart beehive earns students international prize

An energy-neutral, smart beehive that monitors the lives of honey bees has won UCC students an international competition.

Participants in the IEEE/IBM Smarter Planet Challenge were asked to develop a solution to a grand challenge facing their community and the UCC students beat contestants from around the world to the €5,000 prize.

Solar panels keep UCC’s hive energy-neutral and the project examines the activity of the colony, as well as the impact of carbon dioxide, oxygen, temperature, humidity, chemical pollutants, and dust on the bees.