Our first milestone is 150 company-owned hives in Nigeria. This is where we prove everything — the hive, the sensor, the software, and the economics.
Seven questions we cannot answer without actually operating.
Do the standardized hive bodies hold up in Nigerian heat, humidity, and rough handling?
Does the sensing package create real operational value or just data noise?
Do the gateways stay online consistently enough to trust the telemetry?
What does it actually cost in time and money to keep 150 hives operational?
What is the real yield per hive per year in this location and at this scale?
Can we generate a credible traceability record for every batch in real field conditions?
At 150 hives, does the operation generate enough to justify replication?
150 hives is large enough to generate meaningful data, test operational processes, and produce real harvest volumes. It is small enough to manage tightly, fix quickly, and learn from without over-committing capital.
A premature 500-hive deployment with unproven systems would create chaos. 150 hives is the right size to build discipline before scale.
Plateau State is one of Nigeria's most established honey-producing regions. The highland climate creates good conditions for bee activity, and the area has an existing base of smallholder beekeepers and local honey market knowledge.
It is not the easiest location — infrastructure and logistics challenges are real. That is by design. If we can prove the model in a real Nigerian field environment, we can prove it anywhere.
"150 hives operational. Reliable sensor data from 80%+ of hives. First full harvest completed. At least two buyer relationships established. Documented case for 500-hive expansion."