Over the last two years BroodMinder, with the help of our good friends at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm,  has become the number one hive monitoring system in the world. We have produced over 10,000 BroodMinder devices and collected over 80 million data samples from across the country and around the world. 

The BroodMinder-T2 provides you this critical information from inside the hive during the time your hive is closed so that you may take action when your colony is in distress.

There is beauty in simplicity. A single T2 device will record the in-hive temperature hourly, 24/7, without interfering with the colony. With information from one device you can tell:

1. Do I have brood?
2. Are my bees surviving winter?

Yes, more than one device will work in the hive. Having multiple devices strategically placed throughout the hive will give you further insight. In addition to single device readings you can tell:

1. Where is the cluster located?
2. Have they consumed winter food stores?
3. Better awareness

Rather than measure other fascinating things in the hive, we chose to measure the one item that provides the most actionable data, thereby keeping the cost as low as possible.

This approach allows us to make the BroodMinder-T2 available at the revolutionary retail price of $29.99. The affordable tool that all beekeepers need in their hives. 

From the very beginning of BroodMinder, our goal has been to help the beekeeping community and their bees. We are like-minded beekeepers and engineers with aspiration to help control honey bee losses.

During the last 10 years, the US has been averaging 30% hive loss over winter. Last winter, across the Midwest, numerous states lost more than 60%. Losing that much livestock annually drives our team crazy. We see a desire on the part of backyard beekeepers to help solve this national problem, and at the same time, learn more about their own hives. We have developed professional grade monitors, expressly for beehives. The entire team has worked hard to make the devices simple and economical so that every bee enthusiast may be part of this national experiment.

The BroodMinder team believes that by performing simple, uniform measurements on tens of thousands of hives, the beekeeping community will gain insights into hive distress and that, as a community, we will develop interventions to improve outcomes. 

The T2 is a colony management tool. Temperature is the one measured element that delivers the information needed to make the best choice for your hive. The T2 is more than just a thermometer, but rather a tool beekeepers need to make more informed decisions.

With an uncomplicated design and easy to use mobile application, beekeepers can easily and quickly setup the device to begin reading data. Join the BroodMinder collective as we build upon our goal of having beekeeping data coming from all parts of the country.

Once beekeepers begin monitoring their hives hourly, they think of their bees differently. Putting explanations with the data means understanding our bees in new ways. Through these insights, we all become better beekeepers.

As we get more and more sensors deployed, the prospects for use of this data broadens greatly. Currently we are working with NASA and universities in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, and Tokyo, to name a few, looking at national and regional honeybee trends. These trends include honey production and brood rearing vs climate and forage availability. By being committed to public domain data, we are able to create a shared experience for the beekeeping community at large. Through BeeCounted.org, beekeepers can not only monitor their own hives, but they can see how other hives in their vicinity are doing. Bee clubs are sharing data during their monthly meetings and discussing and learning together.

To activate the T2, simply press the power button to turn it on. Installation is as simple as placing the BroodMinder-T2 on top of the brood frames in your hive. After that, you use the BroodMinder app with your phone or tablet to collect the information. 

Interpretation is also simple as explained in this video.

In order to get the cost down, we have to purchase 10,000 circuit boards at a time. This is a scary proposition for a self-funded organization such as BroodMinder. 

In order to reduce our anxiety and save you money, we are offering pre-sales of the BroodMinder-T2 for $25 each, a 16.7% discount. To get the discount however, we must reach our funding goal.

BroodMinder is working to create a worldwide database from the hives of backyard beekeepers. This information is available as public domain on Becounted.org for analysis by anyone who wants to participate.

The BroodMinder app can send the beekeeper's hive data to the Cloud with just a push of a button. At Beecounted.org, you can see your own hive's graphs as well as those uploaded by other beekeepers in your area or anywhere in the world. The information can be examined to define normal hive conditions in particular areas, compare and test the interventions recorded, and ultimately define best practices to foster bee survival.

The goal of the BroodMinder Citizen Science project is to gather to data from 10,000 hives. The greater the data set, the more likely it is that significant trends can be revealed. 

If we don't reach our funding goal, we will still be producing the BroodMinder-T2 but there won't be any pre-sales. You'll have to wait to order it in November... at full retail price. So get out there and share this campaign and bundle larger pledges with your local clubs. Let's make this happen.

We have produced 80 prototype BroodMinder-T2 devices and they will operate in a very similar manner to our current products. Over the last two years we have developed eight major software packages and put in place an eco-system to support our products including the new BroodMinder-T2. We've accomplished a lot.

Here is Marshal from Proactive Engineering with circuit boards hot off the assembly line. As of 10/19/2018 we now have 10,000 circuit boards completed as well as all of the housings and shipping materials. Here are Natalie, Brad and Emily building the housings and prepping the shipping cases.

We have also finalized our software and are in the process of final validation. The risks are decreasing rapidly.

However...

There is always a chance of final production issues. We have a large investment in making 10,000 circuit boards and if we run into unexpected issues, we will not ship, and your money will be returned. We remain committed to only shipping the best products we can.

We are working to the November ship date because that is an ideal time to install sensors before winter. The team will be doing everything possible to make that happen.

So you've read this far and you don't keep bees but like the idea? You can help by:

• Sharing this campaign on Facebook
• E-mailing to your beekeeping friends
• Sharing our story with your favorite bloggers
• Funding a community hive - Click "Back This Project" at the top of this page and will use any donations to fund placing sensors in community or school hives.

Thank You

The entire BroodMinder team is grateful to all of our supporters. This project is a labor of love for us and we are committed to making positive changes to the way we keep bees. 

And we still believe: