There are 600,000 beekeepers in the European sector, mainly SME family-owned companies. The revenue generated by this industry is more than €400M in Europe. However, the European Union has a net negative trade-balance in bee products, mainly honey, producing only 54% of its demand (the EU imports from cheaper producers, namely Argentina and China). However, despite its importance and the obvious potential for growth, serious problems face the sector. Bee populations and beekeepers numbers in Europe have been falling at an alarming rate. Honey imports to the EU have risen by 20% since 2001. Action to halt the decline in the European beekeeping sector is also urgently needed because bees also play a vital role in agricultural productivity. The role of bees as a pollinator remains the most important economic contribution, far outweighing the collective importance of all hive products. The economic value of pollination worldwide is estimated to be at least €153 billion, which represented 9.5% of the value of the world agricultural production used for human food in 2005. More than 70% of food crops and 35% of food production still depend on pollinators; 84% of vegetables grown in Europe depend on pollination.Our project will develop the first monitoring tool that would detect changes in honey bee activity within the beehive for the effective management of bees. Changes in the activity within the hive will indicate early signs of potential swarming and possible poor health, so the beekeeper can intervene to manage the colony. The tool will allow beekeepers to remotely diagnose colony status without the invasive opening of hives for physical inspection.This will increase the efficiency of beekeeping allowing small and hobby beekeepers to more closely manage their colonies and predict behaviour that requires intervention remotely, and will allow commercial beekeepers to keep more hives over greater geographical distances so increasing their efficiency and profitability.