Bee Hive Nutrition Device With Corrugated Feeding Trays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern beekeeping faces challenges in providing optimal nutrition to bees in hives located away from specific nectar sources, such as manuka trees, limiting the production of specialized honeys like manuka honey, and existing bee feeding systems do not effectively enhance nutrient uptake while ensuring bee safety.
Innovation Solution
A bee hive nutrition device positioned between the brood chamber and honey super, featuring trays with corrugated surfaces and fondant patties with complementary ridges and recesses to increase feeding area and prevent drowning, along with wireless sensors for monitoring temperature, humidity, and bee activity, allowing for customized nutrient provision and real-time hive data collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If bees are fed liquid nutrients in flat trays, then nutrient delivery is simple, but bees can drown and nutrient uptake surface area is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the flat two-dimensional feeding surface into a three-dimensional corrugated surface with ridges and recesses. This dimensional change increases the surface area available for bee feeding while the ridges create elevated pathways that prevent bees from drowning in liquid nutrients pooled in the recesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The feeding tray is segmented into multiple ridges and recesses, dividing the liquid nutrient supply into separate compartments. This segmentation allows multiple bees to feed simultaneously on different ridges while preventing any single bee from becoming trapped in a large body of liquid.
2Ease of manufacture
If bees are fed liquid nutrients in flat trays, then the system is simple, but the feeding surface area is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the flat two-dimensional feeding surface into a three-dimensional corrugated surface with ridges and recesses. This dimensional change increases the surface area available for bee feeding while the ridges create elevated pathways that prevent bees from drowning in liquid nutrients pooled in the recesses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If hives are located away from specific nectar sources, then hives can be positioned for optimal crop pollination, but production of specialized honeys like manuka honey is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces fondant patties as an intermediary substance that contains concentrated nutrients from specific plant sources. These patties are placed in the corrugated trays, and bees consume them to produce specialized honey varieties regardless of the local flora available at the hive location.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares fondant patties in advance with specific nutrient compositions required for producing specialized honeys. These pre-prepared patties are then introduced to the bees, allowing them to produce targeted honey varieties without needing direct access to the source plants.
4Reliability
If wireless sensors are added for real-time monitoring, then bee health and hive conditions can be improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates wireless sensors that autonomously monitor temperature, humidity, and bee activity within the hive. These self-service sensors continuously collect data and transmit it remotely without requiring manual intervention, enabling real-time hive management while maintaining operational simplicity for the beekeeper.
Data Source
AI summary
A bee nutrition device is configured with a frame positionable between the brood chamber and honey super components of a stacked bee hive. Fondant and/or water or nurturing liquid is positionable within trays located within a recess located with a sidewall of the frame of the device. Access into and out of the recess for bees can be regulated by a translating member having openings therein which can be selectively aligned with the central opening communicating through the bottom surface of the frame.