Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02770817 2012-03-08
HEAT LOSS CONTROL ENTRANCE FOR BEEHIVE
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to beehives, and specifically to beehive
entrance and exit means
and beehive insulation and ventilation.
Background of the Invention
It is known in the field of beekeeping to provide one or more artificially
constructed beehives for
honeybee colonies, each hive comprising a matrix of hexagonal cells called
honeycomb in which
the bees store honey and pollen. Various hive designs are currently in use in
the field, with all
incorporating some means for the bees to enter and exit the hive. In colder
climates where a
large opening would be detrimental to the hive colony, one common means is a
small hole in the
hive housing granting access to the hive interior, configured and sized to
allow the passage of
bees therethrough. Such hives can accommodate bees in all seasons.
However, there is a recognized problem with wintering honeybees outside in
cold climates such
as those commonly encountered in Canada. As temperatures drop below -15
degrees Celsius, the
hive entrance can freeze over, blocking passage of the bees therethrough.
Also, bees seek to
maintain an internal hive temperature of approximately 30 degrees Celsius
around the queen bee
and any eggs she has laid or developing brood; if the hive entrance freezes
over then the hive
humidity begins to rise, and moisture condenses on the inner surface of the
hive and may begin
to drip down on the bees and the internal hive structures such as the
honeycomb. As is known in
the art, damp bees and hive structures often result in hive colony stress,
resulting in weakness,
and wet bees that have become chilled need to establish a healthy body
temperature and
therefore require a relatively dry environment. If bees are cold, they must
ingest more honey
(carbohydrate) to maintain the desired body temperature, and this results in
the bee giving off
increased heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide.
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A frozen hive entrance negatively impacts colony health in other ways, as
well. Worker bees
emerge at approximately 21 days into their life cycle. In the summer, worker
bees live for
approximately 30 to 40 days after emergence. In the fall and winter, worker
bees live for
approximately 60 to 90 days after emergence. The old or sick bees that are at
or near the end of
their life cycle will remove debris and excrement produced by the queen and
younger worker
bees from the hive, for the general health and benefit of the hive colony, and
will also remove
themselves before death thereby preventing decomposition within the hive and
resultant bacteria
and mould development. A blocked hive entrance obviously counters this.
In addition, proper ventilation of the hive must be enabled year-round,
especially during the
winter, to remove moisture and carbon dioxide, and a blocked hive entrance
prevents proper
ventilation.
This is a known problem that has been plaguing beekeepers for many years.
Solutions have
included the introduction of moisture absorbing materials inside the hive,
such as wheat straw,
peat moss, wood shavings and saw dust, which are placed on a canvas-and-wood
frame below
the top lid but above the honeycomb frames, However, problems occur when the
absorbent
material becomes saturated, as the bees must then heat a greater area without
proper colony
ventilation.
What is needed, therefore, is a means for aiding in the ventilation and air
circulation necessary
for maintaining a healthy honeybee colony, while at the same time maintaining
the necessary
interior hive temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention therefore seeks to provide an entrance assembly that can
be mounted over
a hive aperture which helps to prevent freeze-up while allowing both adequate
ventilation and
internal heat retention.
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According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
entrance for a hive, the
hive comprising an interior space defined by a housing, the housing being
provided with a hive
aperture opening into the interior space, the entrance comprising:
an internal access aperture for positioning on an external surface of the
housing over the
hive aperture:
an external access aperture spaced from the internal access aperture;
a passage connecting the internal access aperture to the external access
aperture; and
a heat reflecting surface adjacent the internal access aperture for reflecting
a portion of
heat received from the interior space back toward the interior space.
In exemplary embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention, the
hive aperture, internal
access aperture, passage and external access aperture are configured and sized
to allow the
passage of bees therethrough. The external access aperture is preferably
configured to discharge
away from the hive aperture and into the space surrounding the hive. The heat
reflecting surface
is preferably a portion of the passage, with the heat reflecting surface
disposed opposite the hive
aperture. Exemplary embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention
preferably further
comprise a mounting mechanism for mounting the entrance on the hive, wherein
the mounting
mechanism most preferably comprises a strap for securing the entrance against
the external
surface of the housing.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
entrance for a hive,
the hive comprising an interior space defined by a housing. the housing being
provided with a
hive aperture opening into the interior space, the entrance comprising:
an inner support wall provided with an opening therethrough, the inner support
wall
configured to be positionable against an outer surface of the housing such
that the opening is
positionable over the hive aperture: and
an outer member mounted on the inner support wall and comprising a passage
having a
first end positionable against the opening and a second end discharging to an
exterior of the outer
member, the passage comprising a heat reflecting surface adjacent the opening
to reflect a
portion of heat received from the interior space back toward the interior
space.
CA 02770817 2012-03-08
In exemplary embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention, the.
hive aperture,
opening, passage, first end and second end are configured and sized to allow
the passage of bees
therethrough, and the second end is configured to discharge away from the hive
aperture and into
the space surrounding the hive. The heat reflecting surface is preferably
disposed opposite the
hive aperture. Exemplary embodiments of the second aspect of the present
invention further
comprise an external support wall mounted on an external surface of the outer
member, and
further comprise a mounting mechanism for mounting the entrance on the hive,
wherein the
mounting mechanism comprises a strap for securing the entrance against the
external surface of
the housing.
A detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is
given in the
following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be
construed as being
limited to this embodiment.
Brief Description of the Drawings
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the
present
invention:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary hive entrance according to the
present
invention;
Figure 2 is an elevation view of the front and side and rear faces of the hive
entrance of
Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hive entrance of Figure 1;
Figure 4a is a side elevation view of a hive with an entrance according to the
present
invention attached thereto; and
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Figure 4b is a detailed elevation view of an entrance according to the present
invention
attached to a hive.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will now be described with
reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiment
Turning to Figures 1 to 3, an entrance 10 according to the present invention
is illustrated. The
entrance comprises an inner support wall 22 and an outer support wall 34, with
an insulation
block 26 housed the.rebetween. This general configuration is shown in
perspective (Figure 1),
elevation (Figure 2) and exploded perspective (Figure 3) views.
The inner support wall 22 is composed of 6 inch x 6 inch x 1/4 inch plywood,
although it would
be obvious to one skilled in the art that other materials and sizes would be
adequate and may be
required for different sizes and shapes of hive apertures. The inner support
wall 22 is provided
with an opening 24, which in the illustrated embodiment is a 3 inch hole cut
through the centre
of the inner support wall 22.
The inner support wall 22 is attached to the insulation block 26, which
insulation block 26 is
composed of an insulative polystyrene having a size of 6 inch x 6 inch x I
inch. The outer
support wall 34 is attached to the opposite side of the insulation block 26,
and the outer support
wall 34 is composed of 6 inch x 6 inch x 1/4 inch plywood. The three primary
components 22,
26, 34 are glued and/or nailed together, although other means would be obvious
to one skilled in
the art, including manufacturing two or more of the pieces as a unitary
structure, such as through
an injection moulding process.
As can best be seen in Figure 3, a passage 30 is cut out of the insulation
block 26, which passage
is intended to allow for movement of bees therethroug,h and ventilation of the
hive when the
inner support wall 22 is in place and the entrance 10 is secured against an
external surface of a
hive. The passage 30 comprises an internal end 38 that has a 3 inch diameter
semi-circular
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profile to generally match the shape of the opening 24 in the inner support
wall 22, and the
passage 30 itself progresses from the internal end 38 toward an aperture 32,
the passage being 3
inch x 1/2 inch along its length. When the inner surface wall 22 is in
position against the
insulation block 26, the inner surface wall 22 provides the final wall
defining the finished form
of the passage 30 and the aperture 32.
The passage 30 comprises a heat reflecting surface 28. In the illustrated
embodiment, the heat
reflecting surface 28 is a portion of the passage 30 itself, specifically a
part of the surface of the
passage 30 since the insulation block 26 is composed of a material
(polystyrene insulation) that
can reflect heat. All that is required is that the material of the heat
reflecting surface 28 be
capable of reflecting heat, and therefore it will be obvious that other known
materials could be
substituted for polystyrene insulation. Polystyrene is used in the illustrated
embodiment because
it has a sufficient insulating factor to help prevent freeze-up of the hive
aperture. The heat
reflecting surface 28 is necessary because it functions to reflect heat back
toward the hive
interior, as will he discussed below.
Turning now to Figures 4a and 4b, an entrance 10 is shown mounted on a hive
12. The hive 12
comprises a housing 14 defining an interior space 18, and a hive aperture 20
allowing passage
through the housing 14. The hive aperture 20 in such hive configurations
commonly comprises a
grommet or slot.
The entrance 10 is positioned against an external surface 16 of the housing
14, and specifically
over the hive aperture 20. The inner support wall 22 is placed against the
external surface 16 of
the housing 14, such that the opening 24 rests over and against the hive
aperture 20. The
aperture 32 is then directed sideways, away from the hive aperture 20 and
discharging into the
space outside of the hive 12, although the aperture 32 could be directed to
either side or
downwardly. The hive aperture 20, opening 24, passage 30 and aperture 32 are
configured and
sized to allow the passage of bees therethro ugh.
The entrance 10 is secured to the external surface 16 of the hive 12 by means
of a rope or strap
36, but other variant attachment means would be obvious to one skilled in the
art. The strap 36
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is secured specifically against the outer support wall 34, which accordingly
serves to protect the
insulation block 26 when strapped in place against the hive 12.
When the entrance 10 is strapped in position against the external surface 16
of the hive 12, the
heat reflecting surface 28 faces and is directly opposed to the hive aperture
20. Given this
orientation, heat which exits the hive entrance 20 passes through the opening
24 and contacts the
heat reflecting surface 28. The heat reflecting surface 28 then reflects back
a portion of that heat
toward the hive aperture 20 and thence into the hive interior space 18.
However, some of the
excess heat previously contained within the interior space 18 can escape
through the passage 30,
along with undesired moisture and carbon dioxide. Given the insulative
properties of the
entrance 10, it also helps prevent freeze-up of the aperture 32, enabling an
adequate entrance and
exit means for the bees.
As can be clearly seen, then, there are numerous advantages provided by the
present invention.
In addition to helping to prevent freeze-up of the hive aperture at
temperatures below -15 degrees
Celsius, the present invention allows the desired air circulation and
ventilation, enabling escape
of moisture, excess heat and carbon dioxide out of the hive. The present
invention therefore
helps to keep the colony from becoming stressed. It also allows old and dying,
or sick or
diseased, bees to evacuate the hive before death. Finally, it keeps extreme
atmospheric cold
away from the hive aperture, protecting the hive aperture from direct wind,
snow or rain
exposure, and on warmer days it can enable healthy bees to exit the hive to
excrete.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention. The scope of
the claims should not be limited by the exemplary embodiment set forth in the
foregoing, but
should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the specification
as a whole.
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