Hey all,

I have a somewhat unique problem and I honestly am unsure what kind of IC would be best for it. I have a bee hive and I would love to pull some telemetry from it. Setting up a system that will monitor internal temperature as well as a future goal of computer vision counting bees in/out of the hive.

Another piece of telemetry I would love is volume of the bees. Hive activity can indicate various things and their volume will go up and down depending on various factors. But the issues lies in the fact that bees love to weatherproof everything. They create a compound called propolis which is a super nifty material. But it is sticky and they coat the inside of the hive with this stuff. Think of it like a mix of cosmoline, axle grease and tree sap that is antibacterial and anti fungal.

The issue with that is any moving piece and any opening to a microphone will get filled with this stuff and I strongly suspect it will gum up the sensor unless it is sealed. I suspect a lot of vibration sensors aren't going to be sensitive enough to meet the need and I suspect a lot of microphones will fail the instant they get coated in propolis.

Any idea on what sensor to use for this?