• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.137-148
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• 2024

The European honeybee (Apis mellifera) is an important pollinator threatened by colony collapse disorder (CCD), primarily due to infestation by the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor). Traditional detection methods are invasive and time-consuming, often causing additional stress to colonies. We propose a two-stage framework using the You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8) model for non-destructive and rapid detection of Varroa mite infestation. The framework uses comb light images from inside the hives. In the first stage, a YOLOv8-n model detects bees and extracts individual bee images. In the second stage, a YOLOv8-cls model classifies the infestation status of each bee. Our object detection model achieved a mAP@0.5 of 0.701, and the classification model achieved an average accuracy of 91%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework as a non-destructive method for Varroa mite detection. Based on this research, we expect to provide beekeepers with an efficient tool for early detection and management of Varroa mite infestations, potentially reducing the incidence of CCD and supporting the sustainability of apiculture.