RU2804805C1 - Hive for wild bees pollinators of hard-to-pollinate crops and plants of rare and endangered species - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: agriculture.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to environmental activities aimed at maintaining natural populations of wild bees and rare and endangered plant species pollinated by them. The hive for wild bees – pollinators of difficult-to-pollinate crops and plants of rare and endangered species – is made in the form of nesting blocks made of wooden flat bars fixed on four support posts, having vertical nesting channels drilled in the wood of the block at 9/10 of its depth, closed with plugs with one sides and having exits to the front side of the nesting block in the form of entrance holes located at a distance of 2 to 5 cm from the edge of the nesting block and forming three horizontal rows of holes encircling the entire hive. Additionally, the hive comprises a cavity inside the hive and containers with young bees of the breeding species, one of which is attached outside the hive, and the second one inside the hive.

EFFECT: greater attractiveness of the hive for bees due to a more natural vertical arrangement of nesting channels, improved orientation of bees within the nesting block due to the irregular arrangement of entrance holes on the front side of the hive, as well as increased attractiveness of the hive due to the circular arrangement of nesting blocks on all sides of the hive and placing containers with decoy bees directly in the hive.

1 cl, 3 dwg, 1 ex

Description

The invention relates to agriculture, in particular to beekeeping, as well as to environmental activities aimed at maintaining natural populations of wild bees and rare and endangered plant species pollinated by them. Wild bees are specialized pollinators of a number of agricultural plants (alfalfa, clover, some vegetable, fruit and essential oil crops), as well as pollinators of rare and endangered plant species in natural ecosystems, the pollination of which by honey bees is impossible or economically unjustified. In this regard, breeding wild bees (leaf-cutter bees, osmium bees, etc.) for use as pollinators of various crops, as well as supporting natural populations of wild bees by providing them with hives for settlement, are relevant and are becoming increasingly widespread.

The device chosen as a prototype.

A known hive for wild bees contains a body, which is a box into which nesting blocks are inserted, made in the form of a package of grooved plates, the grooves of which form horizontal cavities potentially suitable for nesting of wild bees. The operation of the hive involves carrying out annual activities for the removal of nesting blocks, their disassembly, cleaning and disinfection, followed by securing them in the body, using special devices and equipment [Hobbs G.A. Alfalfa leafcutter bees for pollinating alfalfa in Western Canada. Ottawa: Canada Dep. Agric, 1973. 30 p. (Inform. Div., Publ. 1495)].

The disadvantages of the prototype are: 1) the presence of gaps between the plates and the hive body, which allow the penetration of parasites and predators into the nesting channel; 2) horizontal arrangement of channels, unacceptable for some species of bees; 3) regular arrangement of entrance holes, which makes it difficult for bees to orient themselves within the nesting blocks; 4) the need for annual disassembly of nesting blocks to clean them of parasites and cocoon residues, disinfection, subsequent assembly and fastening in the body; 5) decoy bees are placed in trays that are placed separately from the hive and young bees do not perceive the hive as a place of hatching, which reduces the population of the hive (the proportion of female bees that populate the hive from the number of hatching ones) -6) technological difficulties in the manufacture of grooved plates and the need the use of special expensive wood species (cedar, etc.), which leads to high costs of labor and resources for the manufacture and maintenance of the hive.

The technical result of the device is the elimination or significant reduction of the accessibility of bee nests for predators and parasites, greater attractiveness of the hive for bees due to the flight of decoy young bees directly from the hive, a more natural vertical arrangement of nesting channels, improved orientation of bees within the nesting block due to the irregular arrangement of entrance holes holes on the front side of the hive, as well as increasing the attractiveness of the hive due to the circular arrangement of nesting blocks on all sides of the hive, as well as reducing labor costs and funds for the manufacture and maintenance of the hive, by eliminating the need for annual disassembly of nesting blocks, which is simpler and less complex, technologically, the method of their manufacture, in particular, the manufacture of such parts as grooved plates - the most technologically complex parts of the prototype.

The problem is solved by the fact that the hive for wild bees - pollinators of difficult-to-pollinate crops and plants of rare and endangered species, including nesting blocks, is made in the form of nesting blocks fixed on four support posts from wooden flat bars, having vertical nesting channels drilled in the wood of the block to its entire depth, closed with plugs on one side and having exits to the front side of the nesting block in the form of entrance holes located at a distance of 2 to 5 cm from the edge of the nesting block and forming three horizontal rows of holes encircling the entire hive, additionally containing a cavity inside hives and containers with young bees of the breeding species, one of which is attached to the outside of the hive, and the second - inside the hive. The technical solution provides greater attractiveness of the hive for bees due to a more natural vertical arrangement of nesting channels, improved orientation of bees within the nesting block due to the irregular arrangement of entrance holes on the front side of the hive, as well as increased attractiveness of the hive due to the circular arrangement of nesting blocks on all sides of the hive and placing containers with decoy bees directly in the hive.

The device is presented graphically.

Fig. 1 - assembled hive with a raised lid.

Fig. 2 - nesting block in section along one of the (outermost) nesting channels.

Fig. 3 - container for decoy females.

In fig. 1 shows hive 1 assembled with a raised lid 2. Wild bee hive 1 includes four wooden posts, to which 12 nesting blocks, 3 on each of the four sides, are directly attached, forming the body of the hive. Nesting blocks are square, flat pieces of wood with nesting channels drilled into them. The bars have an upper, lower and two side edges, with the upper and lower edges running along the grain of the wood, and the side edges across them. Nesting channels are drilled in the upper edge of the nesting block block in a continuous row strictly parallel to each other to the depth of the entire block, not reaching its lower edge 1-1.5 cm. The channel holes on the upper edge of the block are plugged with wooden plugs. Each nesting channel has a tap hole that opens onto the front side of the nesting block. The entrance holes of the nesting channels form on the front side of the nesting block two rows of holes located tightly, but not regularly, which ensures good orientation of the bees within the nesting block, eliminating their wandering and loss of nests. The hive is equipped with two containers for cocoons with nursery bees of the young generation, which are attached to support posts, one outside and the other inside the hive. Nesting blocks 3 are made of solid wooden flat bars, mounted on support posts 4, three blocks on each of the four sides of the hive, one above the other, with the upper end ends of the stands protruding 1 cm above the upper edge of the bars of the nesting blocks. Nesting blocks 3 containing nesting blocks channels 5 with entrance holes 6 (Fig. 2) simultaneously perform the functions of the hive body. On the support posts there are fastenings in the form of crutches 7 for securing containers 8 (Fig. 3) with decoy bees. The entrance holes of the 6 nesting channels form two continuous rows of holes running along the upper edge of all nesting blocks and are clearly visible from all four sides of the hive. In fig. Figure 2 shows one of the nesting blocks in a section along the outermost nesting channel 5. Each nesting channel is drilled 9/10 of the length of the nesting block 3 and together they form a series of channels along the entire upper edge of the block. Each of the channels 5 is closed with a wooden plug 10 and has a tap hole 6 that opens onto the front side of the nest block 3. The tap holes 6 are drilled at a distance of 2 to 5 cm from the top edge of the nest block, as a result of which they form two rows of holes located on at different heights relative to the upper edge of the 9 nest block and from each other, that is, irregularly. This ensures good orientation of the bees within the nesting block 3, which is necessary since each of the bees selects and populates its own nesting channel 5. The container for decoy females 8 (Fig. 3) is made in the form of a box, on one of the side walls of which there are holes 11 , serving for the flight of decoy bees and imitating the entrance holes of nesting channels. The hive is made as follows.

Making a hive begins with making nesting blocks. In bars of the required size, nesting channels 5 are drilled, and then entrance holes 6. The open ends of the nesting channels are tightly plugged with wooden plugs 10. Assembling the hive begins with assembling its two side walls. Three nesting blocks 3 are attached to two support posts 4 in position according to (Fig. 1), forming one side wall. The next three nesting blocks are attached to two other support posts 4, forming the second side wall of the hive. Three nesting blocks are attached to the manufactured two side walls of the hive on one side, forming the front wall of the hive, and the three remaining blocks are attached to the other side of the side walls, forming the back wall of the hive. Containers 8 for decoy bees are suspended on crutches 7, one on the outside of the hive, and the second inside the hive. The hive cover 2 is screwed to the end ends of the support posts protruding above the upper edges of the nesting blocks 3, while between these edges and the cover there remains a gap necessary for the decoy bees to fly out of the container suspended inside the hive body. Containers 8 for decoy bees are made of thin boards or thick cardboard.

The hive is used as follows. Hive 1 is exhibited in the area of the crop being pollinated or in the habitat of bees in nature. In the first case, on the support posts 4 under the nesting blocks 3, forming the front wall of the hive, one of the containers 8 is fixed on the crutches 7, and the second is secured inside the hive also on the crutches. Cocoons with decoy bees of the bred species are loaded into the containers. Cover 2 is fixed to the ends of the support posts, after which the hive is ready to be populated by bees. Securing one container outside on the sunny side of the hive, and the second inside the hive ensures a more uniform hatching and flight of young bees, and, accordingly, more complete pollination of the cultivated crop. Placing containers with nursery bees in places with different temperature conditions allows you to adjust the dynamics of bee hatching, bringing it into line with the weather conditions of the season and the dynamics of flowering of the crop, and thus optimize the process of pollination. The first flight of young bees directly from containers is accompanied by imprinting of the hive as a place of hatching and ensures the return of female bees to the hive and selection of it for nesting during the search for a place to build the first nests. This increases the population of the hive, increases the percentage of females that populate the hive from the total number of those born.

In the second case, when using a hive to support natural populations of wild bees - pollinators of rare and endangered plant species, in particular orchids (pollinated by specific species of wild bees), the hive is installed in the area where these plants grow in nature. In this case, containers are not used, since the purpose of the installation is to attract wild bees already living in the area to the hive for nesting. The attraction of bees is ensured by the similarity of the hive to natural objects usually used by wild bees to build nests in natural conditions - dried tree trunks with canals gnawed by the larvae of xylophagous beetles. The attraction of wild bees to hives is facilitated by the shortage of old trees in the forest, which are usually removed from plantations during sanitary felling and other forestry activities.

The presence of a cavity inside the hive provides additional attractiveness for bees, since it can be used to shelter bees from bad weather and for overnight stays for males and females before they colonize the nesting channels.

The similarity of the hive with the objects of natural nesting of bees not only ensures its high attractiveness for bees both in the case of its use for breeding wild bees and in the case of supporting their natural populations, but at the same time, due to the design features of the hive described above, it provides reliable protection of nests from parasites and predators and, as a consequence, high survival rate of offspring. Such a hive makes it possible to use it indiscriminately for several years in a row, after which nesting blocks that become unusable are simply replaced with new ones.

Example

The hive is made of wooden boards, well dried to avoid bending and cracking of the nesting block plates during the period of use of the hive. The size of the nesting blocks is determined depending on the type of bees inhabiting it. For the largest carpenter bees] d (Xylocopa) - the optimal width of nesting blocks will be 3-4 cm, with a diameter of nesting channels - 8-9 mm. For the smallest ones, for example, Helostoma bees or Heriades bees, the optimal width of nesting blocks will be 1 cm with a diameter of nesting channels of 2-4 mm. At the same time, the dimensions of the nesting blocks themselves for all types of bees are recommended to be the same - 20x20 cm. When using hives to support natural populations of wild bees, pollinators of rare and endangered plant species living in protected areas, where the number of bee species in need of such support is can be significant, it can be recommended to use nesting blocks with nesting channels of different diameters in one hive. It is recommended to cover the open surfaces of the hive with drying oil and then with ship varnish, which will not repel the bees, but will significantly extend the time of use of the hive.

The technical solution eliminates or significantly reduces the accessibility of bee nests to predators and parasites, makes the hive more attractive to bees due to a more natural vertical arrangement of nesting channels, improves the orientation of bees within the nesting block due to the irregular arrangement of entrance holes on the front side of the hive, and also increases the attractiveness of the hive due to the circular arrangement of nesting blocks on all sides of the hive and the placement of containers with decoy bees directly in the hive. In addition, the device is more economical in terms of material consumption and price of materials, costs of manufacturing, installation, movement and maintenance of the hive.

Claims (1)

A hive for wild bees - pollinators of difficult-to-pollinate crops and plants of rare and endangered species, including nesting blocks, characterized in that it is made in the form of nesting blocks fixed on four support posts from wooden flat bars, having vertical nesting channels drilled into the wood of the block by 9 /10 of its depth, closed with plugs on one side and having exits to the front side of the nesting block in the form of entrance holes located at a distance of 2 to 5 cm from the edge of the nesting block and forming three horizontal rows of holes encircling the entire hive, additionally containing a cavity inside hives and containers with young bees of the breeding species, one of which is attached to the outside of the hive, and the second - inside the hive.