Beekeeping is an important source of income in rural economies and the Western honeybee is the most widespread pollinator worldwide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), one third of the world\u2019s food production depends on bees<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking this into account, one of the approaches of \u201cApyphore\u201d is to perform an automated and non-invasive extraction of apitoxin. This is the venom produced by the bee and has anti-inflammatory components and is sold for cosmetic use, such as facial creams. Although apitoxin has therapeutic properties, its extraction often causes stress within the hive and among its individuals; since the bees are pushed against the glass of the collector, because the substance is only released as a form of protection. In \u201cApyphore\u201d the process is done through electrostatic discharges, which is less hostile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The students were 16 and 17 years old and were in their second year of six in technical training. According to Teacher Yamil Vega, the project mediator<\/a>, they had several strong ideas for the application. So they mapped out possibilities until they chose \u201cApyphore,\u201d primarily as a project dedicated to preserving bees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, they analyzed the importance of bees in the world. \u201cWe learned a lot and saw that bees also have diseases. And in the first instance, we had the goal of creating a hive that would be like a bee hotel,\u201d recalls the educator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, other ideas emerged: \u201cWe began to analyze what else we could contribute with the beekeeping technology we already had.\u201d Thus, they developed each of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> (SDG) that had a direct link, such as Health and Wellbeing. \u201cIt was not just a matter of thinking about one problem, but based on it, what other problems we could take into account to make a project sustainable in its entirety,\u201d he highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Designing the prototype<\/a>, they studied the averages of natural hives and saw that they had two options: one very large or several small ones. \u201cWe decided to make them in various sizes, because we may have a future market with different beekeeper needs,\u201d he explains. The team created a model of the casing and commissioned its manufacture to a local artisanal chamber. Then, they installed the electronic part, combining technical knowledge with traditional knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The assembly of the prototype was going well, with the casing already having the necessary cables and sensors, but in practice it did not work. \u201cIn the integration part with the software we had more than 800 lines of code in a program. It was not easy to find what the error could be,\u201d describes the educator. Each line indicates a specific action that the program must perform. There, the team had an interface that integrated all the information, but to make it work, they had to be very patient and segment the programming, changing their method to reach the expected result.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n The group continued to make improvements until the end, and the prototype ended up being of higher quality than they had initially expected: with an integrated computer vision system and a camera that wirelessly communicated in real time what was happening inside the smart hive. The whole thing cost around 120 to 150 US dollars. They made a market projection based on a survey of beekeepers and estimated that the product could be sold for 200 dollars. \u201cNormally, beekeepers buy a product that does not have all the technology we implement for 300 dollars. We managed to optimize the prototype in such a way that the price could be sustainable for them,\u201d says the teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond a lower price than usual for a smart hive, the method used is safer, preserves the bees and, as a consequence, has more apitoxin extractions and other by-products, such as honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was what I loved about the competition: we trained and experimented with a lot of technology to use it. It\u2019s very nice.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Vega adopts a pedagogical methodology of collective learning<\/a> that allows students to discover and focus on the skills they have the most affinity with, without forgetting an overview of the project. To discover the strengths of each one, the educator decided to vary the roles at the beginning of the project, including the responsibility of group leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the STEM<\/a> project, some of the group members were in charge of the technical part, while others were in charge of programming<\/a> and some of communication<\/a>, so that the skills converged into a final result. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to get to the end, learning how to connect a cable but rather knowing how to make at solution truly integral to a work team,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Proto\u0301tipo-2.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n Eureka moment! <\/h5>\n
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Learning to work as a team above all<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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