After a nice break at HiveTracks, we are getting ready for one of the most exciting years we have ever had at the company. We have so much in store for 2022.
Let's start by talking about our new app. What a journey it has been: redesigning an app from scratch, rebuilding our entire technology stack, and testing it with beekeepers across three different continents in four languages has pushed our boundaries.
The Beekeeper's Companion, as we call our new app, is now in beta. We are adding new functionality with two to four iterations per month to be ready ahead of the 2022 season, which is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere. We are particularly excited about the new inspection workflow, the tasks and records, and the hive history that will help beekeepers do what's best for their bees in an intuitive and nicely designed way.
While making our app available to individual beekeepers at HiveTracks, we are working hard to tailor The Beekeeper's Companion to larger groups of beekeepers. We call such solutions nature-based solutions to connect nature, people, and data to tackle socio-environmental challenges.
One of our most exciting projects in 2021 was developing our first nature-based solution. In collaboration with the German Federal Foreign Office and ICARDA, a CGIAR research center, we launched AI-Driven Climate-Smart Beekeeping for women in Ethiopia and Uzbekistan.
It was incredibly exciting to adapt our technology to the requirements of beekeepers in Central Asia and Eastern Africa. More importantly, it helped us emphasize nature-based solutions as a company. So what does that mean for HiveTracks?
In 2022, we are not only going to continue working in Ethiopia and Uzbekistan following a successful extension of our project, but we will also add new areas of work both in Lebanon and in the US, where we will be working with the BeeSquad and the University of Minnesota.
Tripling the number of projects we are working on allows us to create significant synergies between the different regions and beekeeper needs while emphasizing two topics: advisory and extension services and community intelligence.
1. Advisory and extension services
Advisory and extension services are a critical part of agriculture in general and beekeeping in particular. Notably, most states in the US and many governments globally have veterinary experts or apiary inspectors that help beekeepers diagnose and manage their honey bee colonies. In addition, beekeeping clubs and organizations often have mentors who perform similar roles and share their knowledge within their beekeeping community. This year, we will trial digital advisory and extension services through our platform integrating with the Beekeeper's Companion using push notifications.
2. Community intelligence
At HiveTracks, we view community intelligence as the second vital component of a healthy beekeeping ecosystem. We use community intelligence to describe the knowledge derived from beekeepers acting independently. More simply put, our app turns local and regional beekeeper actions into targeted recommendations for other beekeepers in the area. For example, if enough beekeepers in an area add a super, harvest honey, or feed their bees, our app will make suggestions and help you act upon them based on your local conditions.
The 2022 season will serve as a vital opportunity to test our prototypes and improve our products. With every test and every bit of feedback, we will be able to adjust our course, refine our strategy, add or remove features and deliver a better service to individuals and groups of beekeepers around the globe.
Thank you to all of our users and supporters for your patience and great feedback, which helps us grow as a company.
Talk to you very soon.
Max