Solving a School Timetabling Problem Using a Bee Algorithm

The timetabling problem consists in fixing a sequence of meetings between teachers and students in a given period of time, satisfying a set of different constraints. This paper shows the implementation of a Bee Algorithm (BA) to solve the Scholar Timetabling Problem. In the implemented BA, scout bees find feasible solutions while collector bees search in their neighborhood to find better solutions. While other algorithms evaluate every plausible assignment; the implemented algorithm only evaluates feasible solutions. This approach seems to be helpful to manage constrained problems. We propose a new measurement for replacing population that considers the evolutionary history of the bees as well as their fitness. Experimental results are presented for two real schools, where tare algorithm shows promising results.