IES20080730A2 - One-size-box beehive - Google Patents

Abstract

The one-size-box beehive is a stackable-box beehive, designed specifically to be made up of a varying number of boxes (containing frames) which are all identical. This differs from conventional designs which are made of two size boxes. Each One-Size-Box can be used (by the bees) either as a brood chamber or for the storage of honey. Multiples of these boxes allow a varying total size of both brood-chamber and honey-storage area. Because the boxes, and the frames contained within them, are all identical in a one-size-box hive, they are all interchangeable.

Description

Field Of Invention: This is a bee-hive design which uses one or more boxes, each of which is identical in size.

Background: Bee-hives are constructions made by people in which honeybees live. They are hollow cavities made from clay, timber, straw or plastic, or combinations of these materials. They are water-proof and vermin-proof and they have an entrance way allowing the bees in and out.

The bees build their wax combs inside hives in the same way as the would do in their natural home (a hollow tree).

Most hive designs allow some way for the bee-keeper to access the bees and their combs 25 inside, for the purpose of inspection the bees and their young (brood), and for harvesting honey.

Honeybees secure their combs to the ceiling and sides of hives and so in older hive designs inspecting and harvesting is difficult and involves cutting out combs with a knife. ΙΕθ 8 Ο 7 30 A significant development occurred when it was found that bees will build their combs along the underside of suitable sticks, provided that these sticks are 1, arranged in parallel across the top of the hive cavity, 2, have a line of beeswax attached there by the beekeeper, along the underside of the stick, 3, arranged at a particular and precise distance apart - that is, 32mm from centre to centre. This distance allows the bees to build combs of sufficient width to raise their brood successfully within the comb.

This type of hive is called the top-bar hive. The cavity of the hive is covered by a series of sticks or bars, in parallel, each one supporting a comb. This arrangement allows the beekeeper to lift each bar separately and inspect it or harvest the honey without disturbing or destroying the bees. Top-bar hives are still widely used throughout the world but they have drawbacks in that the combs are often still attached to the sides of the hive-cavity by the bees, so some cutting of the comb is still required.

In 1852, L.L. Langstroth patented the first successful 'removable frame hive', which topbars are replaced the with a four-sided timber frame. These frames were still at the same spacings as are the bars in a top-bar hive (32mm) so the bees build their combs within the frames, that is, a separate comb was built by the bees within each separate frame. In removable frame hives the combs only very rarely get stuck to the sides, so inspections, harvesting and other beekeeping manipulations can be made writh even less negative impact on the bees.

Langstroth's removable-frame hive is the fore-runners of every modem hive design there is, and it is an important step in the development of beekeeping, but it has some serious faults. ΙΕΟΘ 0 7 3 0 Langstroth's removable-frame hives, and all conventional hive designs which followed, have frames arranged inside rectangular boxes. These boxes could be stacked up according to the amount of space that the bees inside need, These boxes are not all identical, however. There are two distinct sizes, each with frames built to fit accordingly to fit in each.

The larger size of box (called a brood-box) is always at the bottom of the stack and 10 contains the queen and the brood, plus worker-bees, comb and whatever stores will fit.

The smaller boxes (called honey-supers) are positioned above the brood-boxes but separated by the use of a screen (called a queen-excluder) which has holes or slots through which worker bees can pass, but which are each too small for the queen to pass through. Thus the queen is restricted to the lower part of the hive and no eggs are laid in the upper part.

This design and arrangement has been copied by many designers since Langstroth's day and is thought necessary for the following reasons: 1, the inspections of the brood is easier for the beekeeper because there are only a limited number of frames that contain brood. 2. the super boxes, which contained nothing except honey, are lighter in weight, so dismantling the stack and harvesting the honey is easier for the beekeeper.

There are many variations of this hive design, each with a different name and proponents, but each contain the standard conventional arrangement of brood-box and super/s This basic hive design has been around for many years and it overcame many inherent problems associated with earlier hive-designs, but it has led to beekeeping practices IE Ο 8 Ο 7 3 Ο which are have a long-term detrimental effect on the bees living inside. The design faults are mostly associated with having two different box sizes.

For instance, two sizes of boxes necessitate the the use of a queen-excluder to restrict the queen in the brood-chamber, otherwise brood would be raised in the honey super boxes, so a queen-excluder is a standard component in all conventional hives. But a queenexcluder is both detrimental to the formation and movement of the honey-bee colony as a whole, and to the individual bees within it who must all squeeze through narrow slots in order to access the super-boxes.

Also, two different size boxes within each hive requires the purchase and storage of two sizes of spare parts, i.e., boxes, frames and the wax sheets usually used inside the frames to encourage the bees to build combs.

These faults are addressed in this patent - ONE-SIZE-BOX BEE-HIVE. ΙΕο 8 Ο 7 3 Ο Statement Of Invention ONE-SIZE-BOX BEE-HIVE is a bee-hive design which contains specifically designed 5 boxes each of which 1, will weigh no more than 25 kilograms when full of capped honey 2, is identical to all the others in the hive.

Each box contains frames, each of which is specifically designed 10 1, to fit appropriately within the box, leaving enough space around each frame and between each comb for the free movement of bees, but not so much space as to allow the bees to build extra comb outside the confines of the frame 2, to be identical to all the others in the box 3, to be identical to all the others in the hive.

Each frame includes a space in which the bees can build their comb.

Other components of the hive are similar to conventional hives, i.e., they each have a roof, a crown-board (to exclude draughts), and a floor.

Unlike conventional hives, One-Size-Box hives do not require the use of a queenexcluder. The queen is not restricted in any way, Description Of Drawings 25 There are twelve drawings attached to describe the design and the context of the design. These drawings are on 5 separate sheets. ΙΕ ύ 8 0 7 3 0 Key to the attached drawings: PAGE 1/5 Figure 1 SHOWING CONVENTIONAL BROOD-BOX DESIGN CONTAINING FRAMES TO FIT A - Brood-box B - Brood-frames in position within the brood-box Figure 2 SHOWING CONVENTIONAL BROOD-FRAME B - Frame C - Comb built by the bees within the frame Figure 3 SHOWING CONVENTIONAL SUPER-BOX DESIGN CONTAINING FRAMES TO FIT D - Super-box E - Super-frames in position within the super-box Figure 4 SHOWING CONVENTIONAL SUPER-FRAME C - Comb E- Frame ΙΕθ 8 Ο 7 3 Ο PAGE 2/5 Figure 5 SHOWING TYPICAL ARRANGEMENT OF BOXES IN A 5 CONVENTIONAL HIVE F - Roof D - Super-box M - Position of Queen-Excluder (laid flat between the brood-box and the super-box) A-Brood-box G-Floor Figure 6 SHOWING PLAN VIEW OF QUEEN-EXCLUDER H - Queen-excluder PAGE 3/5 Figure 7 SHOWING ONE-SIZE-BOX BEE-HIVE F - Roof J - One-size-box G - Floor Figures SHOWING EXPANDED VIEW OF ONE-SIZE-BOX BEE-HIVE F-Roof K - Crown-board L - Position of frames inside J - One-size-box G-Floor ΙΕθ 8 Ο 7 3 Ο PAGE 4/5 Figure 9 SHOWING HOW EXTRA ONE-SIZE BOXES COULD BE ADDED 5 TO THE STACK Figure 10 SHOWING HOW ONE-SIZE BOXES CAN BE REARRANGED IN A STACK PAGE 5/5 Figure 11 SHOWING HOW A STACK OF ONE-SIZE BOXES CAN BE DIVIDED UP FOR INCREASING STOCKS OF BEES K - Crown-board 15 J - One-Size-Box G-Floor Figure 12 SHOWING HOW INDIVIDUAL FRAMES CAN BE REARRANGED ANYWHERE WITH THE STACK OF ONE20 SIZE BOXES L - Frames

Claims (2)

1. 5 Claims

1. ONE-SIZE-BOX BEE-HIVES consist of one or more boxes, containing appropriatelysized and arranged frames, each of which said boxes is specifically designed to be identical to all the other such boxes in the hive, and to weigh not more than 25 kilograms 10 when hill of capped honey, and, with the addition of a floor, crownboard and roof, is suitable, whether used singularly or collectively, for the successful housing of honeybees throughout the year.

2. A hive consisting of boxes as in Claim 1 but not limited to any particular proportional 15 dimensions, provided each box conforms to the size limitations within Claim 1.