Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina
The locking device for beehives addresses attachment and flexibility issues of existing devices by providing a dimensioned passage channel for honeybees, excluding Vespa Velutina, and ensuring bee health and hive security through flexible placement and color guidance.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE202025003011
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-10-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-08
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-10-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing beekeeping protective devices are cumbersome to attach, impede pollen collection, are inflexible in placement, and cause heat loss, leading to bee mortality and reduced hive defense capabilities.
A locking device for beehives with a dimensioned passage channel that allows honeybees to pass while excluding Vespa Velutina, featuring flexible placement, tool-free attachment, and color guidance, enabling bees to enter from multiple angles and minimizing pollen loss.
The device effectively prevents Vespa Velutina entry while allowing honeybee passage, maintaining bee health and hive defense, and facilitating easy attachment and orientation, thus enhancing bee acceptance and hive security.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
[0001] The invention “Constriction for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina” is hereinafter referred to as “invention”. 1. Purpose and Functioning of the Invention
[0002] The invention serves to prevent the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) from entering beehives. The invention is a component that enables the manufacture of so-called entrance wedges with special, novel properties from rods or strips. An entrance wedge is typically an elongated object that completely or partially closes the entrance of a beehive.
[0003] The invention has the following properties in combination: a) The invention allows honeybees to enter and leave the hive and prevents this for Vespa Velutina. b) The invention does not impede honeybees from carrying pollen due to the lateral space provided in the passage channel. c) The invention, through its dimensions, makes it easier for bees to defend the entrance to their hive and thus also to prevent the intrusion of smaller wasp species or bees from another hive (so-called "robbing"). d) The invention is - by virtue of the dimensions of the passage channel in one dimension - a protection against mice, even when the bees are clustered together in the winter cluster and do not defend the entrance. e) The invention allows entry and exit from the beehive both headfirst from above via the hive wall and from below via, for example, a landing board, due to the beveled edges of the opening. f) The invention makes it easier for bees to orient themselves and find the entrance to the hive on their return flight by using color to define the border of the passage channel. The base color is a light blue, a color preferred by honeybees for flight paths. This is contrasted with black, so that an additional heat stimulus is generated by sunlight on the opening's border, and with a fluorescent color, which facilitates visual inspection by the beekeeper and helps the bees find the entrance in twilight. g) A flight hole wedge constructed with the invention can be inserted into and removed from the hive entrance without tools. This makes it easier for bees to enter and exit during late nectar flow days in the year. h) The invention makes it possible to flexibly arrange the position of the passage opening in the flight hole. 2 State of the art
[0004] Protection against the entry of Vespa velutina into the beehive is offered on the market in a variety of forms. Most protective devices take the form of grids, similar to those used against mice, to exclude honeybee drones, and as queen excluders under the honey super. Disadvantages of conventional protective devices
[0005] Attaching them to the beehive is cumbersome: Grid-shaped protective devices are usually screwed in front of the entrance. This requires tools. Screwing them onto polystyrene hives is sometimes impossible or undesirable.
[0006] Protective device as a pollen trap: The usual design as a narrow barrier grid with square openings or as a perforated metal sheet typically strips a significant portion of the pollen that bees still collect late in the year from their hind legs ("pollen baskets"). This pollen is thus lost to the bees and their brood.
[0007] Acceptance by bees: Metal protective structures are generally not well-received by bees during the colder months, as the good thermal conductivity of the metal draws heat away from the bees. This can lead to the bees becoming stiff and to additional bee deaths.
[0008] Defense option: If the protective device extends across the entire width of the hive entrance, it becomes more difficult for the bees, with their reduced numbers in later in the year, to defend the hive entrance.
[0009] Inflexible: Some beekeepers prefer the entrance to the hive to be in the center of the entrance hole, while others prefer it to be on the left or right side. Most protective devices dictate the location of the opening and are inflexible in this regard. 3 advantages of the invention
[0010] The advantages of the invention lie in the fact that it 1. The passage channel is dimensioned in one dimension (height) so that honeybees can pass through, but larger animals such as Vespa velutina or mice cannot. 2. can be flexibly positioned in the desired location within the hive entrance, 3. is readily accepted by the bees due to its shape and color design, 4. Minimal restrictions for bees and beekeepers (tool-free attachment to the beehive, no pollen trap, bees can enter the passage channel from above and below...) 4 Construction of the invention
[0011] The invention consists of four functional parts: 1) A block that closes part of the entrance hole and fits into the entrance hole. 2) A passageway in the block, suitable for bees, including those with pollen, including queens, but too narrow for Vespa Velutina. 3) A color contrast around the passage channel as a guide for bees. 4) Two “ears” with holes for flexible mounting and fastening of rods or strips.
[0012] The invention is in Fig. 1 outlined. Fig. Figure 2 shows the attachment to a square rod to create an entrance wedge. Fig. Figure 3 is a photograph of a built-in prototype of the invention. Fig. Figure 1 shows the invention In this context, the term refers to Fig. 1: A) Perspective view of the invention (B) View of the invention from below with passage channel (C) Front view with passage channel at the bottom. (1) ‘Ears’ for mounting on rods or strips (2) Drilled holes in the ears, lowered (3) Passage channel for bees (4) Beveled edges for easier access Fig. Figure 2 shows the invention with a square rod as a complete entrance wedge. In this context, the term refers to Fig. 2: (B) View of the invention from below with passage channel (C) Front view with passage channel at the bottom (I) Entrance constriction (II) Screws (III) Square bars Fig. Figure 3 shows a photographic illustration of the installation of a prototype.
Claims
[1] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina, characterized by , that the invention, in combination with rods or strips, on the one hand blocks the entrance of a beehive against Vespa velutina and thereby prevents access by Vespa velutina, and on the other hand allows honeybees to pass through a metal-free passage in the form of a rectangular channel, [2] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the invention allows for a flexible position of the passage channel in the flight hole for the bees [3] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat the invention, with its beveled edges, allows and facilitates access for the bees from the hive wall (from above) in addition to access from the landing board (from below). [4] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that the invention does not hinder the entry of pollen and does not cause pollen loads to be removed by the bees, [5] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the invention enables the bees to better defend the entrance compared to a free entrance, [6] Narrowing for the construction of a locking device for beehives against Vespa Velutina according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat the invention, through its design of the front with light-absorbing and luminescent surface components, makes it easier for the bees to find the entrance.