Blockchain Application - Automation of Apiarists' Supply Chain Management.

Managed honeybees have received more attention in recent years, which has slowed down bee mortality, but there are still some problems that do not prevent it. For this reason, it is especially important to support beekeepers in their work to sustainably care for the well-being of bees, as they have to fight, like the bees with many different factors. On the one hand, natural influences, which can lead to the fact that bee colonies die, on the other hand also a difficult situation of the market and sometimes very small assistance from the outside. For this reason, this thesis will present a system that can help in the processes of a supply chain. The idea is to build a business model for an apiarist management system based on a distributed ledger, in which various processes of an apiary can be mapped. With the help of IoT sensors and other external applications, the data of beehives can be managed and analyzed. However, the proposed functionality does not end with a pure data management system, but it should also offer the possibility of interaction with end customers and various other institutions. For this purpose, an analysis of the necessary technologies is to be carried out and subsequently a proposal for an architecture is to be presented, as well as a business model including a possible market entry strategy. Furthermore, the questions should be clarified whether the concept presented here, based on the theory, can actually bring advantages. The analysis should also clarify whether the proposed technologies, such as the Hyperledger Sawtooth Framework, are suitable for this purpose. Design Science Research was chosen as the research method, as it is a suitable framework for the creation of the necessary models, as it aims to create suitable theories and artifacts based on environmental influences and a knowledge base. The result of this thesis consists in particular of the created models, how the technologies can be linked together, a detailed system description and the associated benefits for beekeepers and for the conservation of bees. In addition, it is also presented how this system can be developed in the framework of a business, and how it can also be integrated in the European market and thus in a larger ecosystem.