Two Queen Beehive Excluder Assembly with Removable Dividers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing two-queen bee hives face challenges in managing queen separation, leading to reduced productivity due to queen interactions, which requires complex demaree manipulation and honey super removal, making it time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A queen excluder assembly with a frame, central filler piece, and removable divider boards that separates queen compartments from the rest of the hive, allowing pheromone separation and easy management of the brood nest without removing honey supers, enabling efficient demaree manipulation and maximizing honey production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional queen excluder is used in a two-queen hive, then queen separation is achieved, but demaree manipulation becomes complex requiring honey super removal
Solution Approach 1:
The queen excluder is divided into multiple sections with removable divider boards that can be independently positioned to create separate queen compartments. This segmentation allows each queen to be isolated in her own space while maintaining access to the brood nest without removing honey supers, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable queen separation and operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The divider boards are designed to be movable and reconfigurable within the queen excluder structure. This dynamic design enables the beekeeper to adjust the configuration of queen compartments as needed for demaree manipulation, allowing flexible management of two queens simultaneously without the need to remove honey supers, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining effective queen separation.
2Reliability
If queens are kept separated in traditional two-queen hives, then queen interaction is prevented, but labor and time requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The queen excluder is pre-configured with divider boards and compartment structures that are ready for immediate use. The removable dividers are designed to be easily inserted and positioned without requiring the removal of honey supers or extensive manipulation of the hive structure. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces the time and labor required for demaree manipulation while maintaining effective queen separation to prevent harmful interactions.
3Ease of operation
If honey supers are removed for demaree manipulation, then access to brood nest is achieved, but productivity and honey production are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The divider boards are extracted as separate, removable components from the queen excluder assembly. These dividers can be independently manipulated to access the brood nest area for demaree operations without requiring the removal of the entire honey super structure. This extraction approach allows beekeepers to perform necessary management tasks while leaving the honey supers in place, thereby maintaining productivity and honey production while achieving the required access to the brood nest.
Data Source
AI summary
A queen excluder assembly for a two queen beehive includes a queen excluder, a frame surrounding a perimeter of the queen excluder, and a central filler piece provided over a portion of the queen excluder. A removable divider board can be inserted over the queen excluder to separate a queen's chamber below the queen excluder from a remainder of the beehive above the queen excluder.