New technology monitored bumblebees on a berry farm in Hattula to boost pollination

A Finnish berry farm used new listening devices and artificial intelligence to track bumblebee and honeybee activity in polytunnels, revealing daily rhythms and temperature effects on pollination.

The Tyrvännö Marja ja Vihannes Oy farm installed Agrisound monitoring units in 100-metre-long tunnels near Hämeenlinna in summer 2025. The devices recorded wingbeat frequencies and identified species, while AI translated the data into real-time maps of pollinator activity.

“We could see exactly where and when pollination was happening,” said Eeva Markkanen, the farm’s environmental manager. “Bees were most active between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and activity dropped sharply after 3 p.m.”

Temperature also shaped behaviour. When the air reached 30 °C, buzzing inside the tunnels noticeably quietened. Finnish summers, averaging around 20 °C, remained broadly favourable.

Based on the data, the farm repositioned bumblebee nests toward tunnel centres to spread pollination more evenly. It also ordered extra pollinators from Spain—both bumblebees shipped weekly from the Netherlands and flower flies for early-season strawberry pollination.

“Strawberries need more help than raspberries,” Markkanen said. “We’re trialling flower flies to cover the cooler spring period when bees are less eager to fly.”

The farm received €5,000 in EU LEADER funding for the project and now combines biological crop protection with pollinator-friendly infrastructure such as shade netting originally installed for raspberries.