Stackable Honeybee Package with Beetle-Exclusion Venting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current packages for transporting honeybees are bulky, expensive, and lack efficient airflow for temperature regulation, often leading to overheating, and do not prevent the transfer of invasive species like small hive beetles, while being cumbersome for storage and handling.
Innovation Solution
A modular, polygonal package system made of plastic panels with integral hinges and locking elements that form a sturdy structure for airflow and beetle exclusion, incorporating a food container and stand-offs for ventilation and stacking, capable of flattening for storage and transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wood frame box with screen wire is used for package, then bees are protected from escape and stings, but package becomes bulky, heavy, and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces heavy wood frame construction with thin-walled plastic containers that provide sufficient containment strength. The plastic walls are thin enough to reduce weight significantly while maintaining structural integrity for bee containment and protecting against stings during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction combining plastic materials with integrated screen wire portions. This composite approach allows the container to achieve both lightweight plastic advantages and bee-proof containment through the screen wire elements, eliminating the need for heavy wood framing.
2Reliability
If screen wire mesh is used for coverage, then bees are contained securely, but small hive beetles cannot escape and are transported across states
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different mesh densities to different portions of the container. The main container walls use coarse mesh for bee containment, while separate vent portions use fine mesh that allows small hive beetles to escape. This localized differentiation of mesh quality solves the contradiction between secure bee containment and beetle escape.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the container into separate functional portions: main containment walls with coarse mesh and separate vent portions with fine mesh. This segmentation allows each portion to serve its specific function - the coarse mesh portion contains bees while the fine mesh vent portions allow beetle escape, preventing invasive species transport.
3Temperature
If air flow is provided for cooling, then bee temperature regulation is improved, but package structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates porous or perforated portions in the plastic container walls that provide passive air flow for cooling without requiring complex mechanical ventilation systems. The porous structure allows air to pass through naturally, enabling temperature regulation while maintaining simple package design.
Solution Approach 2:
The package design allows air to flow through it passively based on natural pressure differentials and temperature gradients, without requiring external power sources or complex control mechanisms. The self-service cooling approach uses the environment itself to drive air flow through the porous portions, simplifying the overall package structure.
4Productivity
If numerous packages are stored, then apiary expansion is supported, but storage space requirements increase substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the container to collapse into a compact flat configuration for storage, allowing multiple packages to be nested or stacked efficiently. The collapsible nature of the plastic container with integrated hinges enables compact storage volume while maintaining full functionality during use, supporting apiary expansion without proportionally increasing storage space requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The package provides robust, efficient airflow for temperature regulation, prevents hive beetle transfer, and is lightweight and stackable, reducing storage needs and handling risks while maintaining structural integrity under various loads.
Implementation Method 1
provides for air flow through and about the package for heat dissipation for proper honeybee environment
Implementation Method 2
Honeybees tend to cluster in captivity and the clusters are exothermic. As a result, overheating of the clusters can be deadly to the bees.
Data Source
AI summary
A package and system for holding and transporting small living beings, particularly, insects such as honeybees and the like, configurable in a robust, sturdy three-dimensional shape for handling and transport by mail and commercial carriers, which prevents stinging from within the package, allows escape of smaller accompanying insects such as hive beetles, is interlocking with others of the packages and strong enough to support other packages and items thereon; that provides for air flow through and about the package for heat dissipation for proper honeybee environment; that accommodates food and separately carrying a queen bee; and that can be easily and quickly broken down into a non-operational, generally flat configuration for initial sale, transport, and storage.