Fast, accurate measurement of the worker populations of honey bee colonies using deep learning

Honey bees play a crucial role in pollination, contributing significantly to global agriculture and ecosystems. Accurately estimating hive populations is essential for understanding the effects of environmental factors on bee colonies, yet traditional methods of counting bees are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error, particularly in large-scale studies. In this paper, we present a deep learning-based solution for automating bee population counting using CSRNet and introduce ASUBEE, the FIRST high-resolution dataset specifically designed for this task. Our method employs density map estimation to predict bee populations, effectively addressing challenges such as occlusion and overlapping bees that are common in hive monitoring. We demonstrate that CSRNet achieves superior performance in terms of time efficiency, with a computation time of just 1 second per image, while delivering accurate counts even in complex and densely populated hive scenarios. Our findings show that deep learning approaches like CSRNet can dramatically enhance the efficiency of hive population assessments, providing a valuable tool for researchers and beekeepers alike. This work marks a significant advancement in applying AI technologies to ecological research, offering scalable and precise monitoring solutions for honey bee populations.