Queen Bee Cage Holder with Elastic Rubber Bands
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing queen bee cage holders struggle to securely position and retain queen bee cages of various sizes and shapes within beehives, often leading to cages falling and compromising the queen's safety and acceptance by the colony.
Innovation Solution
A queen bee cage holder apparatus with a hook member and flat vertical base that allows for secure suspension and positioning of queen bee cages on beehive frames, accommodating different shapes and sizes, and ensuring the cage remains horizontal for worker bee interaction until the queen is released.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If friction is used to hold the queen bee cage between frames, then the cage can be positioned horizontally, but the cage may slip or fall due to insufficient holding force
Solution Approach 1:
The holding system is segmented into multiple independent rubber bands that can be adjusted individually. Each rubber band acts as a separate securing element, providing distributed holding force across different points of the cage, thereby improving both stability and reliability without requiring the cage to rely on a single friction-based contact point.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses rubber bands with elastic curvature properties to secure the cage. The flexible, curved nature of the rubber bands allows them to conform to the cage shape and maintain constant contact pressure, providing reliable retention while accommodating variations in cage geometry. This elastic curvature replaces rigid friction-based holding with flexible, adaptive securing.
2Reliability
If rubber bands are used to secure the cage to the frame, then the cage can be held securely, but a frame must be removed from the hive for installation
Solution Approach 1:
The securing mechanism is divided into detachable rubber band components that can be independently attached and removed. This segmentation allows the rubber bands to be installed on existing frames without removing the frames themselves, as each rubber band can be individually manipulated and secured to the frame structure, thereby maintaining reliability while improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The rubber bands serve as intermediary elements between the cage and the frame. Rather than requiring direct attachment of the cage to the frame (which would necessitate frame removal), the rubber bands act as flexible mediators that can be easily attached and detached, enabling secure cage mounting while preserving frame integrity and simplifying installation and removal operations.
3Ease of operation
If the cage is positioned horizontally for queen health, then worker bees can easily interact with the queen, but the cage is more susceptible to falling if not securely held
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic curvature of the rubber bands provides continuous, adaptive holding force that securely retains the horizontally-positioned cage. The flexible nature of the rubber bands allows them to maintain constant contact pressure on the cage, preventing it from falling while preserving the horizontal orientation that enables worker bee interaction. The curved, elastic properties of the rubber bands create a reliable securing mechanism that works specifically well for horizontal cage positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The rubber bands can be adjusted in terms of tension and positioning to optimize both horizontal cage retention and worker bee accessibility. By changing the tension parameter of the rubber bands, the system can maintain secure holding force while allowing the cage to remain in the optimal horizontal position for bee interaction, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability.
4Reliability
If the cage is secured tightly to prevent falling, then the queen's safety is ensured, but the cage may be difficult to remove after queen integration
Solution Approach 1:
The rubber bands provide flexible, elastic securing that can be tightly applied to ensure queen safety during the integration period. The same flexibility that allows tight securing also enables easy removal, as the elastic material can be stretched and detached without damage. This flexible securing mechanism maintains reliable queen protection while preserving ease of operation for cage removal after integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The rubber band securing system is dynamic rather than fixed, allowing adjustment of tension and positioning over time. The elastic properties enable the cage to be securely held during the critical integration period, then easily released when no longer needed. The dynamic nature of the rubber bands provides both reliable retention and easy removal, resolving the contradiction between queen safety and cage accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to relates to an apparatus for introducing a queen bee to a new or existing beehive. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a queen bee cage or cradle holder apparatus, which is adapted for holding various sizes and shapes of cages and which suspends the queen bee in her cage securely in an ideal position within the new beehive. The apparatus is designed to easily insert and remove the queen bee cage from the beehive.