Lorenzo-López José, Juan-Llácer Leandro
Department of Information and Communications Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Antiguo Cuartel de Antiguones, 30202 Cartagena, Spain.
Sensors (Basel). 2025 May 27;25(11):3372. doi: 10.3390/s25113372.
The last few years have seen the introduction of new technologies in beekeeping, including RFID. Using readers and miniaturized tags, RFID systems work in the UHF frequency band, allowing reading distances to reach tens of centimeters. This work analyzes the propagation inside a full beehive, composed of 10 frames supported by a wooden structure. Each frame contains a layer of beeswax supported by metallic wires. The methodology employed involves measuring Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values and simulating the environment using CST Studio. The results show that tags located along the frame's wires have more coverage than tags in the center positions, revealing coupling of the microtag antenna with the wire. Furthermore, obtaining coverage through simulations represents a more restrictive approach than through measurements. Frame selectivity is also observed, as most of the coverage is found within the three frames closest to the reader antenna. This result shows that RFID systems can find application in the identification and location of the queen bee in a hive.
在过去几年里，养蜂业引入了包括射频识别（RFID）在内的新技术。RFID系统通过读取器和小型化标签，在超高频频段工作，读取距离可达数十厘米。本研究分析了在一个由木结构支撑的10个巢框组成的完整蜂箱内的传播情况。每个巢框包含一层由金属线支撑的蜂蜡。所采用的方法包括测量接收信号强度指示（RSSI）值，并使用CST Studio对环境进行模拟。结果表明，位于巢框金属线上的标签比位于中心位置的标签覆盖范围更大，这揭示了微型标签天线与金属线之间的耦合。此外，通过模拟获得覆盖范围比通过测量更为严格。还观察到了巢框选择性，因为大部分覆盖范围出现在最靠近读取器天线的三个巢框内。这一结果表明，RFID系统可用于蜂箱中蜂王的识别和定位。
