VELLORE: A wasp hovers at the edge of a beehive, its movements slow and deliberate, as if testing the air before a strike.
Inside, thousands of bees remain unaware of the threat inching closer.
Miles away, a farmer’s phone buzzes.
An alert flashes on the screen. The hive is under attack.
This is not a simulation, but how autonomous, AI-based beehives are designed to work – allowing real-time monitoring of the hives without constant manual effort. Rohit N, a 23-year-old innovator from Thirumalaikodi in Vellore, is working to make this a reality.
“Honeybees are essential for pollination, which helps crops grow better and increases yields. But many farmers were not using them as a natural way to improve productivity and instead relied on fertilisers. I wanted to understand why,” said Rohit, pursuing MTech (integrated) in Computer Science and Engineering at Vellore Institute of Technology.
His conversations with farmers revealed that some were unaware of the benefits of beekeeping, and others were discouraged by the effort it demands. “Traditional beekeeping is labour-intensive, requiring constant care – from feeding and monitoring to protecting hives from pest attacks,” Rohit said. That gap led him to explore the idea of autonomous beehives. “Using IoT sensors, these hives can track temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure and hive weight in real time,” he said. “Farmers can monitor everything remotely.”
The system, he added, could improve efficiency by enabling a single beekeeper to manage more hives than in traditional setups, while also helping detect threats such as predator attacks.
Rohit’s connection to agriculture dates back to his childhood. His father, S Nagarajan, an entrepreneur who has worked closely with farmers across Vellore, also founded the Vellore Apicultural Technology Management Society (VATMA), a farmer-led initiative that promotes beekeeping among tribal and marginal farmers in the region.
For Rohit, summer holidays often meant trips to his native village of Puthur, time spent on his father’s coconut farms, and visits to farmlands in Coimbatore and Pollachi. “It was during those trips that I understood how much farmers toil to ensure food reaches our plates,” he recalled.
However, his interest in beekeeping is relatively recent and took shape during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. “With plenty of time on hand, I wanted to develop something useful for society,” he said. As a student passionate about data science and the Internet of Things (IoT), he began exploring how technology could simplify beekeeping.
After years of thought, Rohit conceived the idea of autonomous beehives in his application to the Ministry of Science’s Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)–PRISM scheme. He secured funding of Rs 5 lakh in August 2025. Within six months, he developed a prototype autonomous beehive using AI-enabled cameras and drones for monitoring.
He also experimented with building these AI-based hives from agricultural waste such as coconut and groundnut husks. “The husks often go to waste or are burned. Using them for beehives is a way of turning waste into value,” he said.
With the support of his father and VATMA, Rohit has been involved in distributing around 1,500 traditional beehive boxes to farmers in and around Pulianthope, with a focus on women and tribal communities. Once he secures a patent for his autonomous beehive, he hopes to make the technology affordable for small-scale farmers.
As Rohit plans the next stage of the project with farmers’ inputs, he hopes tech can help more farmers take up beekeeping not just as a supplementary activity, but as a sustainable livelihood.
(Edited by Dinesh Jefferson E)