Working to bring the benefits of digital agriculture and big data to the commercial migratory beekeeping industry, Combplex is focused on creating a more resilient farming ecosystem. The firm has created a smart frame for bee colonies that provides remote colony monitoring, management triage, and logistics support to commercial beekeepers. The Varroa mite is the parasite with possibly the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry - considered by many to be one of multiple stress factors contributing to the higher levels of bee losses around the world. The Varroa mite can reproduce only in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the insect by sucking. The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, including RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus (DWV). A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. On a year-round basis, the Combplex eliminates Varroa mites automatically and in a manner that is completely chemical free: helping to solve beekeeping's biggest problems through automatic detection and elimination of varroa mites using the firm's patented optical detector.
