WO2018165051A1 - Appareil, procédés et médicaments pour le traitement d'insectes pollinisateurs - Google Patents

Appareil, procédés et médicaments pour le traitement d'insectes pollinisateurs Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2018165051A1
WO2018165051A1 PCT/US2018/020974 US2018020974W WO2018165051A1 WO 2018165051 A1 WO2018165051 A1 WO 2018165051A1 US 2018020974 W US2018020974 W US 2018020974W WO 2018165051 A1 WO2018165051 A1 WO 2018165051A1
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Prior art keywords
hive
light
bee
preselected
box
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PCT/US2018/020974
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English (en)
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Peter Robert BUTZLOFF
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Butzloff Peter Robert
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K51/00—Appliances for treating beehives or parts thereof, e.g. for cleaning or disinfecting
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K47/00—Beehives
    • A01K47/06—Other details of beehives, e.g. ventilating devices, entrances to hives, guards, partitions or bee escapes

Definitions

  • Nanoparticle Ionomer Formulation And Photodynamic Method filed on December 14, 2017, all of which are co-pending with the present application, and all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
  • the present application is related to insect pollinator health and, in particular, to apparatus, methods, and medicaments to treat insect pollinators, e.g., honey bee colonies.
  • honey bees Apis mellifera
  • Known honey bee bacterial pathogens include Melissococcus plutonis, and Paenibacillus larvae, which cause widespread and destructive diseases such as the European and American foulbrood, respectively.
  • Major honey bee fungal pathogens include Ascosphaera apis, which causes chalkbrood, and single celled enteric zoonotic fungi known as Nosema Apis and Nosema Cerana.
  • Natural antioxidants such as quercetin from honeybee propolis and bioflavonols in honey have found medical use to treat disease and confer antimicrobial properties useful in the treatment of wounds. These practices are recorded in ancient texts and may be at least 5000 years old. Crystalline carbon nanotubes and Buckminster fullerene are regarded as chemically inert materials resistant to oxidation and have been recovered from the black ink writing on ancient papyrus scrolls greater than 3000 years old. However, structural identification and separation of the simplest fullerene from the many compositions and varieties of nanotube was not achieved until recently, for which the 1996 Nobel Prize was awarded. The smallest stable molecule of these carbon forms is
  • buckminsterfullerene also known as C60 or [60] fullerene to distinguish it from similar all-carbon forms of greater molecular weight.
  • C60 is substantially insoluble in pure polar solvents; however, it is slightly soluble in toluene and benzene. Modern pharmacological use of C60 therefore uses derivatives of this molecule that enable them to become soluble in water. This reduces the anti-viral and anti- bacterial properties of C60, at the benefit of enabling such structures to perform anti-cancer and anti- tumor functions.
  • Water soluble fullerenes tend to spread everywhere in the body, even to places that are not desirable. Moreover, the same is true for water soluble fullerenes that are excreted and make their way into wastewater and the larger ecological systems where desirable lifeforms reside.
  • honey bees has both nutritional and immunological benefit for bees. This is especially true for propolis, a material harvested from plants and used by honey bees to seal their hives and protect their young brood during development.
  • propolis a material harvested from plants and used by honey bees to seal their hives and protect their young brood during development.
  • An apparatus for conveying therapeutic light frequencies to an insect pollinator includes at least one insect pollinator compartment, the compartment having at least one wall transparent to light at a predetermined therapeutic light frequency, wherein light at the predetermined therapeutic light frequency is delivered to an interior of the compartment, and wherein the light is conveyed at the predetermined therapeutic light frequency to the insect pollinator.
  • the insect pollinator is a honey bee
  • the compartment is a hive box
  • the light at the predetermined therapeutic light frequency is between about 600 nm to about 900 nm.
  • the apparatus further includes a plurality of insect pollinator compartments, each compartment having at least one wall transparent to a light at a respective predetermined therapeutic light frequency, wherein the light at the respective predetermined therapeutic light frequency is delivered to an interior of a respective compartment.
  • yet another embodiment includes a preselected photosensitizer fed to the insect pollinator, wherein the preselected photosensitizer and the light at the predetermined therapeutic light frequency causes photolysis in an insect pollinator.
  • the preselected photosensitizer includes fullerol-8, (C60(OH)8).
  • the insect pollinator is a honey bee, and the plurality of compartments includes a bee hive. Each respective hive box of the bee hive receives a light at a respective predetermined therapeutic light frequency.
  • the bee hive comprises a top hive box, a bottom hive box, and at least one middle hive box, each of the boxes receiving light at a respective predetermined therapeutic light frequency.
  • the top hive box light is at the preselected therapeutic light frequency in a green color passband
  • the bottom hive box light is at the preselected therapeutic light frequency in a red or an infrared color passband
  • the at least one middle hive box light is at the preselected therapeutic light frequency in a yellow or an orange color passband.
  • embodiments further include an artificial light source optically coupled to the at least one insect pollinator compartment, wherein the artificial light source provides the light at the predetermined therapeutic light frequency.
  • Other embodiments include a plurality of insect pollinator compartments, wherein the insect pollinator is a honey bee, and the plurality of insect pollinator compartments comprises hive boxes of bee hive having a top, a bottom, and a middle hive box.
  • Embodiments include a plurality of artificial light sources, each artificial light source being optically coupled to a respective hive box, and each of the plurality of artificial light sources providing light at a respective predetermined therapeutic light frequency to an interior of a respective hive box.
  • the interior of the top hive box receives a therapeutic green light, wherein the middle hive box receives a therapeutic yellow or orange light, and wherein the bottom hive box receives a therapeutic red or infra-red light.
  • the plurality of artificial light sources comprises an OLED panel or a plurality of LEDs on a flexible strip.
  • Embodiments further include a
  • photosensitizer provided to bees in the bee hive, wherein the photosensitizer effects photolysis and the photosensitizer comprises fullerol-8.
  • a bee hive to manage bee colony strength including stacked bee hive compartments including a top hive box, a bottom hive box, and a middle hive box, wherein the interior of the top hive box receives a therapeutic green light, wherein interior of the middle hive box receives a therapeutic yellow or orange light, and wherein interior of the bottom hive box receives a therapeutic red or an infra-red light; artificial light sources optically coupled to respective hive boxes, wherein the artificial light sources respectively produce the therapeutic green light, the therapeutic yellow or orange light, and the therapeutic red or infra-red light; an artificial photosensitizer provided to bees in the bee hive, wherein the photosensitizer effects photolysis in the bees in the presence of a therapeutic light, the photolysis destroying a pest, a pathogen, or a chemical; a data acquisition module sensing parameters of the bee hive, the data acquisition module oper
  • the beehive further includes a single board computer coupled to, and receiving sensed data from, the data acquisition module, wherein the computer produces ordered output indicative of bee colony strength; and a power module coupled to, and powering, the data acquisition module and the single board computer.
  • the artificial photosensitizer comprises fullerol-8.
  • the power module receives power from one of an AC mains, a solar generator, and a battery.
  • the plurality of artificial light sources comprises an OLED panel or a plurality of LEDs on a flexible strip.
  • the invention further provides embodiments of a method for synthesizing photosensitizer fullerol-8 in a vane shear mixing apparatus, including providing fullerene (C60) reactant in the vane shear mixer; mixing a food grade edible oil in with the fullerene in an 1:1000 (w/v) mixture, creating 0.1% fullerene mixed solution; providing continuous rotational movement to the fullerene mixed solution for a first preselected time of shearing vanes in the vane shear mixer with a shearing rate of between about 10 and about 1000, creating a mixed solution having vesicles of about 5 to about 10 microns; maintaining the fullerene mixed solution at a preselected temperature above the freezing point of the liquid ionomer and below the boiling point of the water component of the ionomer for the first preselected time; applying ultrasound at preselected power and a preselected frequency for a second preselected time to the mixed solution; adding a preselected volume of a preselected concentration
  • the first preselected time is about 24 hours, wherein the preselected power is about 200 milliwatts, wherein the preselected frequency is about 20 kilohertz, wherein the second preselected time is about 1 hour, wherein the preselected temperature is about 80 degrees C, wherein the preselected volume is about 2% and the preselected concentration is about 30%, wherein the preselected amount is about 10% by weight, and wherein the predetermined pore size is no greater than about 45 microns.
  • the preselected ionomer is bee honey.
  • the method includes adding lipids, and amino acids or proteins commonly present in pollen, or their equivalent, to stabilize a photolysis feed treatment.
  • the invention further provides a method for providing a medicament to managed honeybees, including providing fullerol-8; providing an ionomer; mixing the fullerol-8 in the ionomer, creating a fullerol medicament; and feeding the fullerol medicament to the managed honey bees.
  • the medicament method includes embodiments which include exposing the managed honey bees to light at a predetermined therapeutic light frequency to effect photolysis in the managed honey bees; also included is applying smoke to the managed honey bees to encourage feeding instead of hoarding the feed containing the fullerol medicament.
  • the ionomer comprises honey.
  • the invention includes an apparatus for monitoring and managing bee colony strength in a bee hive, including a data acquisition module operably coupled to a hive scale, wherein the hive scale reports the weight of the bee hive; a CO2 sensor, wherein the CO2 sensor is coupled to the top of the hive to report hive respiration; a relative humidity sensor to report the relative humidity of hive respiration; a light sensor module; and a temperature sensor module.
  • the sensed data to the data acquisition module provides an indication representative of bee colony strength.
  • Embodiments of this apparatus further includes a computer coupled to, and receiving sensed data from, the data acquisition module; the data acquisition module further comprises a sound sensor for identifying sounds within a beehive; the light sensor module has an internal light sensor for sensing light inside the beehive, and an external light sensor for sensing light outside of the bee hive; and the temperature sensor module has an internal temperature sensor for sensing temperature inside the bee hive, and an external temperature sensor for sensing temperature outside of the bee hive, wherein the computer produces ordered output indicative of bee colony strength.
  • a communication module is coupled between the data acquisition module and the computer.
  • the apparatus includes a power module coupled to the data acquisition module and the computer, the power module being one of a solar power module, an AC mains power module, or a battery power module, or a functional combination of two or more of the solar power module, the AC mains power module, or the battery power module.
  • FIG.1 is a section view of a double wall transparent light filtering panel capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.2 is a perspective view of the transparent light filtering panel of FIG.1, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.3 is a section view of a triple wall transparent light filtering panel capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.4 is a section view of an interior trussed triple wall transparent light filtering panel capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.5 is an exploded view of a traditional and commercially available Langstroth hive- body box, that may be used in accordance with the present invention
  • FIG.6 is an exploded view of a Langstroth hive-body box having transparent light filtering panels capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.7 is an exploded view of a Langstroth hive-body box having vertically fluted transparent light filtering panels capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.8 is an exploded view of a Langstroth hive-body box having horizontally fluted transparent light filtering panels capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.9 is an exploded view of a phototreatment bee hive, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.10 is an assembled view of the phototreatment bee hive shown in FIG.9, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.11 is a perspective view of a hive weight scale, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.12 is an interior view of the weigh scale chassis of FIG.11, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.13 is a perspective view of a light emitting panel, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.14 is a perspective view of a flexible, organic light emitting panel, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.15 is a perspective view of a flexible light strip including a series of surface mounted light emitting diodes (SMD-LED) mounted on a flexible substrate, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.16 is a side view of a top board illuminator, in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG.17 is a top view of a framework screen, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.18 is a bottom view of the framework screen of FIG.17, showing a mesh attached to frame members, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.19 is an exploded view a bottom board illuminator for disposition on the bottom of a bee hive, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.20 is a side view of the bottom board illuminator of FIG.19, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.21 is a perspective view of a bottom board mesh while illuminated, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.22 is a brooder hanging frame, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.23 is an interposition hanging frame, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.24 is an exploded view of a Langstroth bee hive, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.25 is another exploded view of a Langstroth bee hive having a transparent top board, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.26 is a perspective view of a three-tiered Langstroth hive assembly in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.27 is an exploded view of a phototreatment bee hive, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.28 is an assembled view of the phototreatment bee hive shown in FIG.19, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.29 is single solid frame phototreatment bee hive showing five transparent light filtering panels capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.30 is an exploded view of a three-tier optical bandpass (phototreatment) beehive, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.31 is a view of ionomer stabilized fullerene formulated in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.32 is a view of a lipid bilayer floating in water-based cell media containing fullerol- 8 nanoparticles at the internal non-aqueous lipid-lipid interface, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.33 is a cross section view of a lipid bilayer containing fullerol-8 that is being breached by an infective virus particle, in accordance with the one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG.34 is a cross section view of an exploded virus particle and a lipid bilayer containing fullerol-8 that is re-establishing the lipid bilayer after a viral breach, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.35 is a cross section view of a neuron that is growing a neurite with the assistance of fullerol-8 nanoparticles, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.36 is a cross section view of a honey bee brain with a neuron and a growing neurite located within a mushroom body lobe, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.37 is a view of the natural electric charge transfer effect between a free-flying honey bee and a flower in relation to the location of the insect brain, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.38 is a view of a fullerene ionomer formulation during a chemical reaction in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.39 is a block diagram of a method for synthesizing fullerol, C60(OH)8, from fullerene, C60, without the use of hazardous solvents, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention
  • FIG.40 is a fullerol-8 ionomer treatment method specified for honeybees, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.41 is a block diagram of a bee health management apparatus, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • FIG.42 is a block diagram of software modules supporting the bee health management apparatus of FIG.41, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
  • biofilm means the enhanced ability of bacteria to adhere to a surface and to each other by the production of specific proteins under favorable growth conditions. Bacteria can sense these conditions by their responses to combinations of light, temperature, available food sources, and relative humidity.
  • biological activity means any physiological or behavioral activity of an organism.
  • exemplary biological functions include reproduction, respiration, neural activity, and locomotion.
  • Honey production is a biological activity that is specific to a honey bee.
  • chromophore means a light absorbing chemical structure in a molecule that functions to absorb photons of light at a specific set of wavelengths; the energy of the absorbed light is then transferred to vibrate, rotate, or rock by oscillating the atoms having a chemical bond or bonds composing such a structure; the geometry and the strength of the chemical bond is a characteristic of the chromophore that is tuned to the photon wavelength which activates and is absorbed by it. It is possible to have one chromophore in a type of molecule that is present in quantity in one insect that is not present in quantity in another insect.
  • the endogenous pigment melanin has a chromophore that comprises an effective screen for possibly harmful light rays. It acts to convert light energy into heat and may also act as a sink or reactive site for free radicals that could otherwise damage cells. However, intense light may reverse the direction of that chemistry to produce free radicals, especially reactive oxygen species (ROS); when this occurs, the chromophore performs as a photosensitizer.
  • ROS reactive oxygen species
  • Example molecules having photon absorbing chromophores as used herein include: anthraquinones, aphins, pterins, tetrapyrroles, ommochromes, melanins and papiliochromes, and may also include food substances sequestered inside insects from feeding on their host or host plants to include the antioxidative carotenoids and water-soluble flavonoids.
  • the term“destructive insect,” as used herein, means an acarid, such as a Varroa
  • Destructor mite that acts to increase bumble or honey bee mortality by passing on or spreading disease and by consuming the circulatory fluids of the bee, thereby increasing the stress on entire bee colonies, and reducing overall hive vitality.
  • the term“diffuse,” as used herein, means a light source or photonic irradiation that is not collimated and is preferentially diffuse or utilizes the body of the irradiated insects, their wax honeycomb, and random surface imperfections of the hive materials to enable reflection and transmission of said irradiation whereby such rays of light reach as many parts and corners of the inside of the bee hive.
  • the term“epicuticle,” as used herein, means the outside part of the insect exoskeleton or exocuticle that is the primary defense of insect pollinators and honey bees to resist physical penetration, puncture, mastication, and digestive chemical etching by parasitic varroa mites, or penetration and chemical etching by enzymes released by the growing spores of pathogenic fungi.
  • the epicuticle becomes softened by moisture, this significantly reduces resistance to physical and chemical assault at the outermost layers of the hard exoskeleton of an insect. The way this can happen is if these layers are subject to wetting by water which will cause them to swell and soften, or in extreme cases also to delaminate and separate from each other.
  • the epicuticle is maintained in a state of health and high strength when it remains covered by waxes and esters that are produced by bees to protect themselves from moisture in the environment.
  • Fullerol-8 is C60(OH)8 unless otherwise specified for the purpose of making a solubility comparison.
  • Fullerol-8 that is octa-hydroxylated fullerene, is composed of C60 bonded with eight hydroxyl groups.
  • the term“managed honey bees” means honey bees cultivated for honey and for pollination, in contrast to wild honey bees.
  • “pest,” as used herein, means an insect or arthropod that is destructive by infesting and damaging pollinating insects, bee hives, or reducing honey bee populations, or by causing a reduction in honey production.
  • “pest” is also understood as any arthropod or insect that damages agricultural products or reduces agricultural yield of agricultural products that are economically useful or find desirable utility in human or animal consumption.
  • Photolysis or“photodegradation,” as used herein, means molecular oxidation and disassembly by reaction with 1O2 or breakdown into simpler molecules by photons. In bees undergoing phototreatment, photolysis is accompanied by subsequent biological removal from living tissues of the degraded or oxidized molecules. Photolysis in honey bees is additionally defined by the time and duration of exposure to irradiation causing photodegradation, where both time and duration are affected by the wavelength as well as the intensity of the applied illumination.
  • the term“phototreatment,” or“PT”, as used herein, does not include the practice of optogenetics, and means the generation of highly reactive singlet excited state of oxygen (1O2) from ground state molecular oxygen (3O2) through interactions of photosensitizer, light, and biological tissue. Both photosensitizer and 1O2 molecules can be consumed by photochemical reactions during PT; this process is known as photolysis.
  • the amount of 1O2 that reacts is the basis of the PT dose, and the amount of available molecular oxygen 3O2 defines the basis for PT.
  • the term“photoreception,” as used herein, means the wavelengths of photons to which the ocular parts or eyes of bees can sense and respond to light.
  • the honeybee eye contains three types of photoreceptors which peak in the ultra-violet (UV), blue, and green parts of the spectrum.
  • the short-wavelength sensitive photoreceptor is most sensitive at about 344 nm
  • a middle-wavelength sensitive receptor is most responsive to photons at about 436 nm
  • a long-wavelength sensitive receptor has maximum sensitivity at about 544 nm.
  • Honey bees do not have an ocular sensitivity at wavelengths greater than about 600 nm.
  • photosensitizer generally means an endogenous catalyst, usually a natural pigment present in the epicuticle such as melanin or eumelanins, or sometimes it is such a pigment produced by a pathological form of microbe.
  • a catalyst usually a natural pigment present in the epicuticle such as melanin or eumelanins, or sometimes it is such a pigment produced by a pathological form of microbe.
  • the action of such a catalyst in the presence of light that reacts with such molecules to transfer energy to the tissues of a live animal is to initiate the process of photodegradation and may be consumed in part by such degradation. It is notable that photosensitizers play a role in detoxification. Both fullerenes and fullerols may act as photosensitizers in the presence of light energy.
  • phototaxis means the attraction of an insect to a direction associated with the introduction of a directional light source that is visible to them.
  • phototaxis By a process called negative phototaxis, most honey bees including the queen run away from light entering the hive because it represents danger, whereas forager bees express positive phototaxis because they can seek the exterior environment to forage for food. Parasitic insects that prey on bees may also express phototaxis.
  • sclerotization refers to the creation of hydrogen-bonds between protein and microcrystals of chitin or chitosan in juvenile insect epicuticle, to form a strong network of bonds that is both elastic and able to resist puncture or penetration; this process requires the displacement of water molecules that have interposed, or hydrogen-bonded to proteins and chitin. Sclerotization may also result from linkages of adjacent protein chains by phenolic bridges (quinone tanning). Only the outside layers or epicuticle of the insect becomes sclerotized. Endogenous pigments such as melanin in the cuticle may be associated or deposited along with quinones but are additional to sclerotization and are not necessarily associated with this chemical process.
  • the term“singlet oxygen,” as used herein, means a high energy form of diatomic molecular oxygen gas, O2. Its physical properties differ only subtly from those of the more prevalent triplet ground state of O2 gas designated here as 3O2.
  • the terms 'singlet oxygen' and 'triplet oxygen' refer to the quantum state of the molecules: singlet oxygen exists in the singlet state with a total quantum spin of 0 with its electrons remaining in separate degenerate orbitals but no longer with like spin, while triplet oxygen has a total quantum spin of 1 with its electrons having like spin.
  • Singlet oxygen, designated herein as 1O2 is far more chemically reactive toward organic compounds than triplet oxygen. Singlet oxygen can be responsible for the accelerated photo-degradation of many materials.
  • FIG.1 a section view of an Optical Bandpass Panel 10, having an exterior surface 12, interior support member 14, and passive air gap insulating regions indicated by the plurality of empty spaces represented by cavity 16.
  • the monolithic or single contiguous piece of panel 10 to include 12, 14 are sometimes commercially available with dyes, pigments, or other colorants mixed into their transparent composition to enable optical bandpass or light filtering characteristics. These are most commonly used in horticultural applications such as the exterior walls of greenhouses which require light transmission to be filtered to pass or transmit wavelengths of ambient sunlight that are most useful to plants at particular growth stages.
  • a subset of these products is useful to the beehive construction when the height of support member 14 is about 0.25 to about 1.0 inches thick.
  • the upper range of panel thickness is required for multiple stacks of heavy bee hive components inclusive of honey in the hive, as will be described below by alternative geometries and panel thickness, the addition of structural support members, or the selection of complex internal support reinforcement, or like means intended to avoid buckling under load. It is noted herein that greater panel thickness is sometimes more economically produced or only available in clear transparent form without a bandpass function, thereby requiring the addition of a separate bandpass film or sheet 18 that is often sold in rolls for placement and adhesion to the substrate surface 12, as shown by affixed film 19.
  • the adhesive used to affix the film can be an optically transparent reactive thermoset polymer such as, for example, epoxy, polyester, acrylic, or other methacrylates, or a cyanoacrylate ester.
  • the combination of the adhesive layer and the bonded film 19 usually is of about 0.010 to about 0.040 inches thickness. Any transparent panel shown or referenced herein may have such film 19 applied as required to achieve the bandpass function onto at least one outside panel surface.
  • the material of the panel is usually selected to be an adhesively bondable transparent thermoplastic such as, without limitation, polycarbonate, however acrylic is also possible. Polyethylene and polypropylene thermoplastics are less desirable because adhesive bonding to these substrates is difficult.
  • optical bandpass films are usually composed of high molecular weight nylon or Mylar® plastics, or some plastic alloy of these materials.
  • the functional and economic benefit of light filtering technology provides selective wavelengths of light, a more compact structure, a less cumbersome configuration, and also allows the light emitting panel 10 to be easily affixed to, or be removed from, any part of a bee hive component provided with illumination, as will be described below.
  • FIG.2 there is shown a perspective view of panel 10, as illustrated by FIG.1, to show the internal details of the thick section transparent elements which are visible to the naked eye.
  • transparent panels may be attached using a variety of well-known fastening means including but not limited to, screws, Velcro® fastening system, adhesive, or other attachment that allows access for cleaning, and to gain access to the interior of the bee hive for repair, maintenance, or honey harvesting.
  • Transparency of an optional applied film 19 is indicated herein by the three offset parallel lines.
  • panel 10 having optical bandpass light filtering characteristics, or the additional optional applied film of usually about 0.010 to about 0.040 inches used to confer bandpass characteristics onto panel 10, are each respectively transparent.
  • a useful passband can be the spectral region of light greater than about 620 nanometers, however other bandpass colors, or wavelengths of light, may be used as specified to enable a selected
  • phototreatment function when used or applied to bee colonies residing in beehives.
  • FIG.3 there is shown a section view of an Optical Bandpass Panel 30, having an exterior surface 34, interior vertical support member 32 to confer panel thickness, horizontal panel member 36 to reduce buckling effects under load, and passive air gap insulating regions indicated by the plurality of empty spaces represented by cavity 38.
  • the monolithic or single contiguous piece of panel 30 may be commercially available with dyes, pigments, or other colorants mixed into the transparent plastic composition to enable optical bandpass or light filtering characteristics.
  • the combination of the adhesive layer and the bonded film 19 is usually about 0.010 to about 0.040 inches thick.
  • the advantage of the three horizontal members of the structure of panel 30 is to confer added strength, resistance to buckling, greater insulation capability using two spaces through the thickness of the panel instead of one such space, or greater optical bandpass selectivity.
  • the material composition and material properties may be otherwise identical to panel 10. Therefore, the geometries of panel 30 are provided to show how a structural geometric advantage may be achieved. Any multiple number of walls or layers of plastic reinforcement having air spaces or gaps may be applied.
  • FIG.4 depicts an interior trussed triple wall transparent light filtering (bandpass) panel 40, having a truss-type construction in which plastic wall reinforcement truss members 42 converge on a central point 44.
  • Panel 40 can be capable of selectively transmitting incident irradiation from the sun or artificial light sources.
  • FIG.5 there is shown an exploded view of a conventional Langstroth hive body 50 typically constructed from wood or sometimes from opaque polystyrene, having opaque rectangular side panels 51, 52, 53, 54 of height dimension D1 of about 9.75 inches. Large side panels 51 and 52 each have length dimension D2 of about 19.75 inches. Opaque rectangular small side panels 53, 54 have a length dimension D3 of about 16.75 inches. Thickness of these panels may depend on the material used for construction. Polystyrene may be about 1 to about 1.5 inches thick because it can be a relatively weak material subject to breakage under load. Wood panels are usually about 0.5 to about 0.75 inches thick depending on the type and strength of wood.
  • Interior support rails 56 and 57 may be fastened to any of the abutting side panels using conventional fasteners such as nails, screws, or staples.
  • Lifting handles 55, 58 may have staples or screws that extend through both the abutting small side panels 53, 54 as well as the internal support rails 56, 57.
  • glue or adhesive such as epoxy will be used to supplement these fasteners with added strength to confer rigidity to the hive box structure.
  • Abutting seams at panel 52, 53 may be a standard cabinetry joint other than simple abutment. These can include dovetail joints, lap joints, and the like.
  • Bee hive box 50 can be structurally defined by sidewalls and end-walls attached together for providing enclosure to honey bees.
  • the standardized dimensions D1, D2, and D3 will be used herein to denote and convey the side panel dimensions of any other Langstroth hive box bodies in subsequent figures and drawings by referring to this Figure for the Langstroth Hive box.
  • FIG.6 there is shown an exploded view of an optical bandpass phototreatment Langstroth hive body box 600 constructed from lightweight transparent solid plastic material favoring those plastics with excellent impact resistance such as acrylic, polycarbonate, or copolymers of methyl methacrylate sometimes including polyester, epoxy or other reactive plastic materials. Construction can be equally functional in the phototreatment application but less so from a variety of other light transmitting transparent materials such as tempered glass or fused quartz, having considerably more mass or poor mechanical properties in impact resistance. These compositions are provided with an optical bandpass film and are able to pass selected frequencies of light through substantial regions of an exterior facing panel into the interior of the Langstroth hive box 600.
  • Interior sidebar rails 660, 670 and exterior grip handles 650, 660 can be optionally made from opaque materials such as wood to reduce cost and enhance strength.
  • Optional corner supports 682, 684, 686, 688 may be composed of a metal alloy, such as for example, steel or aluminum, or an opaque plastic such as, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to confer structural rigidity at high stress concentrations along the corner seams and joints between abutting transparent long side panels 610, 620 and transparent short side panels 630, 640. These joins may be adequately reinforced using adhesive materials or fasteners fitted into pre-drilled holes, or some combination of fasteners and adhesives.
  • PVC polyvinyl chloride
  • Side panels 610, 620, 630, 640 are desirably treated with UV resistant additives, and commercially available scratch resistant coatings when the substrate plastic materials are soft, provided that each type of such coatings does not interfere with the selective optical bandpass function enabling transmission phototreatment to bees or other pollinating insects.
  • FIG.7 there is shown an exploded view of an optical bandpass phototreatment Langstroth hive body box 700 constructed from lightweight transparent hollow plastic material favoring those plastics with excellent impact resistance such as acrylic, polycarbonate, or copolymers of methyl methacrylate. These compositions can be provided with an optical bandpass film, and can pass selected frequencies of light through substantial regions of an exterior facing panel into the interior of the Langstroth hive box 700.
  • the vertical orientation of interior support members of side panels 710, 720, 730, 740 are to carry weight and loading from multiple stacked Langstroth hive body boxes subject to creep deformation under exposure to elevated summer temperature conditions, where the details of these interior support member geometries may be shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2.
  • Interior support member geometries may substitute with those shown in FIGS.3, 4, or equivalent hollow plastic transparent panels.
  • Interior sidebar rails 760, 770 and exterior grip handles 750, 780 are shown optionally made from opaque materials such as wood to reduce cost and enhance strength.
  • Optional corner supports 782, 784, 786, 788 may be composed, without limitation, of a metal alloy such as steel or aluminum or a glass- epoxy composite, or an opaque plastic such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to confer structural rigidity at high stress concentrations along the corner seams and joints between abutting transparent long side panels 710, 720 and the transparent short side panels 730, 740.
  • PVC polyvinyl chloride
  • joins may be adequately reinforced using adhesive materials or fasteners fitted into pre-drilled holes, or some combination of fasteners and adhesives.
  • Other methods of permanent fastening at seams and corner joints such as ultrasonic welding are acceptable and may be considered for mass production purposes when both speed of assembly and joint integrity are desired.
  • Side panels 710, 720, 730, 740 are desirably treated with UV resistant additives, and commercially available scratch resistant coatings when the substrate plastic materials are soft, provided that each type of such coatings does not interfere with the optical bandpass function enabling transmission phototreatment treatment to bees or other pollinating insects.
  • FIG.8 there is shown an exploded view of an optical bandpass phototreatment Langstroth hive body box 800 constructed from lightweight transparent hollow plastic material favoring those plastics with excellent impact resistance such as acrylic,
  • compositions can be provided with an optical bandpass film and are able to pass selected frequencies of light through substantial regions of an exterior facing panel into the interior of the Langstroth hive box 800.
  • the horizontal orientation of interior support members of side panels 810, 820, 830, 840 is to maximize insulation qualities at the expense of some ability to carry weight and loading from multiple stacked Langstroth hive body boxes 800 subject to creep deformation under exposure to elevated summer temperature conditions.
  • the details of these horizontal interior support member geometries are shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2. Suitable variations of interior support member geometries other than those shown in FIG.8 may substitute with those shown in FIGS.1-4, or equivalent hollow plastic transparent panels.
  • Interior sidebar rails 860, 870 and exterior grip handles 850, 880 may be made from opaque materials such as wood to reduce cost and enhance strength.
  • Optional corner supports 882, 884, 886, 888 may be composed, without limitation, of a metal alloy such as steel or aluminum, or a glass-epoxy composite, or an opaque plastic such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to confer structural rigidity at high stress concentrations along the corner seams and joints between abutting transparent long side panels 810, 820 and the transparent short side panels 830, 840. These joins may be adequately reinforced using adhesive materials or fasteners fitted into pre-drilled holes, or some combination of fasteners and adhesives.
  • PVC polyvinyl chloride
  • Side panels 810, 820, 830, 840 are desirably treated with UV resistant additives, and commercially available scratch resistant coatings when the substrate plastic materials are soft, provided that each type of such coatings does not interfere with the optical bandpass function enabling transmission phototreatment to bees or other pollinating insects.
  • FIG.9 is an exploded view of phototreatment bee hive 900, having two transparent side windows 942, 944 of nominal dimensions about 19 inches by about 8.5 inches, and two transparent side windows 946, 948 having dimensions of about 9 inches by about 8.5 inches, where all four such transparent windows are formulated with a tinting material that has an optical bandpass in the desired operating wavelength range of photons desired for the bee hive box 900.
  • spars 934, 936, 938, 940 have nominal rectangular dimensions of about 20 inches by about 0.75 inches by about 1.5 inches.
  • Spars 930 and 932 have nominal rectangular dimensions of about 14.75 inches by about 0.75 inches by about 1.5 inches.
  • Spars 926 and 928 have nominal outside dimensions of about 14.75 inches by about 0.75 inches by about 1.5 inches where one upper side corner has been provided with a rectangular notch of about 0.5 inches by about 0.5 inches by about 14.75 inches to act as a supporting shelf to accept honeycomb foundations that are inserted in the normal operation of a Langstroth bee hive box.
  • Vertical corner spars 910, 912, 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924 have nominal rectangular dimensions of about 6.24 inches by about 1.5 inches by about 0.75 inches, and are oriented to show that two of each of these spars are to be assembled in a right angle or at about 90 degree abutment along their longest sides to create a vertical corner
  • All of the spars of the assembly can be joined to adjacent abutting spars by conventional rigid fasteners such as wood fastening screws, lumber staples, epoxy adhesive, support brackets, nails, or any combination of traditional fasteners capable of maintaining a rigid connected framework of assembled spars.
  • the materials of the optical windows 942, 944, 946, 948 have optical bandpass characteristics.
  • the optical window material has an upper cutoff greater than about 950 nanometers and a lower cutoff of about 590 nanometers for honeybee brood raising purposes at the lower bee hive box region of the Langstroth type of bee hive 900.
  • the optical bandpass material may consist of vinyl, polystyrene (PS), acrylic, polyethylene (PE), polyether terephthalate (PET), or some combination of plastic alloys and plastic layers capable of acting as an optical bandpass material having transparency in the desired range of wavelengths useful to operate the phototreatment function of the bee hive.
  • PS polystyrene
  • PET polyether terephthalate
  • plastic alloys and plastic layers capable of acting as an optical bandpass material having transparency in the desired range of wavelengths useful to operate the phototreatment function of the bee hive.
  • Other arrangements and combinations of optical bandpass panels for traditional wooden external sides of the beehive are possible, and these embodiments may be installed at various locations.
  • FIG.10 is the assembled view of the phototreatment bee hive 1000 that is shown by the individual parts in an exploded view in FIG.9.
  • the top and the bottom sides of this bee hive box 1000 are open to the air and may be stacked onto other such boxes to allow the free movement of honeybees into the
  • FIG.11 is a perspective view of the outside of weigh scale 1100, illustrating the chassis housing 1120 in which data is processed and weight measurements are made and stored using voltages supplied along the multiple conducting wires bundled within the cable 1165 and entering chassis 1120 at weatherproof elastomeric grommet 1160.
  • the top of the scale has a flat surface 1110 which is to be placed in abutment to a beehive at the surface of the bottom board illustrated later in FIG.30. Horizontal inclination is maintained by adjustment of four threaded support legs, of which three legs are visible in this perspective view as indicated by 1130, 1140, 1150.
  • the weigh scale is set upon a flat rigid support surface that may be a concrete paver stone, a steel metal plate, an aluminum alloy metal plate, a composite material plate, a piece of treated timber, or like rigid substrate having good dimensional tolerance and excellent resistance to attack by termites, ants, and environmental freeze and thaw cycles sufficient to stabilize the horizontal and vertical orientation aspects of a beehive, under the expected load of a beehive, which may approach about 90 pounds or 40 kilograms per hive box as each one is filled with honey.
  • the scale is to be able to measure the beehive weight placed on it, to have minimal drift at constant temperature, and is to be calibrated for compensation of output signal according to changes in the measured temperature of the ambient outside operating environment.
  • FIG.12 is an illustration of the interior view of weigh scale 1200 having chassis wall 1205 which is supported from below to maintain horizontal level by the use of four adjustable height threaded legs 1210, 1220, 1230, and 1240.
  • Load cell 1295 obtains power through an external power supply that delivers voltage along cables 1270, 1272, and 1273. Such power is shared power to operate all of the devices and electronics illustrated to be housed within the weigh scale chassis 1205.
  • a weatherproof elastomeric grommet 1275 wraps the multiple wire cable 1270 to ensure that dust, rain, and the incursion of undesirable insects such as ants are kept away from the sensitive electronics at the interior of the weigh scale housing 1205.
  • Load cell 1295 returns a voltage reduced by a variable resistance in proportion to the deformation action of weight applied to the load cell; this measurement is converted to a digital signal by a dedicated microchip to send to the computational microprocessor 1280.
  • Microprocessor 1280 simultaneously obtains voltage signals from external temperature, light intensity, sound intensity, and humidity sensors that will be illustrated in FIG.30. Each of these voltage signals are organized on wiring harness 1290 and sent to microprocessor 1280 along cable 1272 such that electric contact test points for troubleshooting of both input supply and output measurements are made available at 1290 for later servicing and calibration purposes.
  • Processed signals in the form of time stamped, digital data are sent to data recording device 1260 for later recall and tabulation or graphical visualization of each of the measured and calculated values. Such data will not be lost in the event of a power failure; the design assures data collection resumes as soon as power is restored or made available on sufficient solar charging.
  • Data storage is achieved in 1260 by a physically removable modular memory device that may be optionally upgraded as commercial prices for memory decrease and memory capacities increase. This collection of data is ported to a wireless area network transmitter (WAN) 1250, so that any cellular telephone with the appropriate access code may collect the entire amount of stored data at memory storage device 1260.
  • WAN wireless area network transmitter
  • Such data may then be sent to a remote server for storage and comparison with similar data collected from other bee colonies residing in beehives experiencing either similar or different environmental conditions.
  • the purpose of the calculated values is to provide an automated determination of the colony strength of the whole population of bees residing in the beehive that may be compared with traditional manual inspections to estimate honeybee colony strength by the standardized COLOSS hive colony strength survey methods, so that confidence can be built between manual and automated colony strength and hive performance methodologies.
  • FIG.13 a perspective view of a light emitting panel 1300 for irradiating managed honey bees.
  • Light emitting panel 1300 includes a plurality of surface mounted light emitting diodes (SMD- LED) 1312 electrically mounted on a substrate 1314.
  • substrate 1314 may include a rigid, flexible, semi-flexible, or rigid-flex circuit board.
  • SMD-LEDs 1312 can be mounted and spaced out in any ordered or arbitrary fashion on the substrate 1314, in a preferred embodiment, SMD-LEDs 1312 are mounted in close proximity to one another so that rays of light emanating from the SMD-LEDs 1312 cover a wide field of illumination.
  • the honey bees can move or fly between the voids or gaps formed between the mounted SMD-LED devices 1312 where less light is present, instead of passing directly over the light emitting SMD-LED elements 1312. Reduced light exposure renders the irradiation light dosage to honey bees less effective as the light rays do not directly impact the honey bees.
  • SMD-LEDs 1312 may also provide more illumination to help resolve the matter of light dosage, however greater than about 1 watt power per LED in the newer high power light emission devices, such as available by Osram-Bridgelux, Egin, Stanley, Sharp, Lustrous, Luminous, and other brands of commercially sold.
  • High power SMD- LEDs are sometimes provided with some combination of metal or ceramic heat sinks, thermal conductors, and may include a Peltier thermo-electric cooling device or a forced-air ventilation fan device as part of the standard lamp, industrial lighting kit, or substrate to which they are mounted.
  • light emitting panel 1300 can include a plurality of conventional light emitting diodes (LED) rather than surface mounted light emitting diodes (SMD-LED) 1312.
  • LED light emitting diodes
  • SMD-LED 1312, or each conventional LED can have a red color having a radiation pattern in the about 610 nm to about 710 nm range, and/or an infrared color having a radiation pattern greater than about 800 nm but less than about 900 nm.
  • SMD-LEDs 1312 and/or conventional LEDs may include top-emitting diodes, side- emitting diodes, conventional emitting diodes, or any combination thereof.
  • FIG.14 there is shown a perspective view of a light emitting panel 1400 including a flexible active matrix organic light emitting display (OLED) 1442 for illuminating managed honey bees, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
  • the OLED panel 1400 includes a thin polymer film surface on a transparent plastic substrate 1442, containing imbedded photonic atomic layers having light emission properties, and a flexible, position retaining boundary 1444.
  • the direction of emitted light is illustrated by arrows to indicate the direction of light rays being substantially normal to the surface 1442.
  • the curvature shape of the OLED panel 1400 can be controlled by the flexible position retaining boundary 1444 which may comprise any metal, foil, rubber, imbedded wire, a conformable plastic material, or any other suitable material that is imbedded within, or affixed to the perimeter edge region of the OLED 1400 to manipulate OLED panel 1400 into various configurations.
  • OLED panel 1400 may comprise any size, dimension, or shape, and is preferably designed or selected to operate on low voltage power source. For example, OLED panel 1400 may operate on a 12 volt DC power source.
  • OLED panel 1400 may be manipulated into various curvature shapes by bending the position retaining boundary 1444 into any desired configuration.
  • the OLED panel 1400 may be shaped into a cylinder having sufficient inside diameter to allow the passage of one or more bees to pass through for the purpose of irradiating the honey bees by the surface emission of element 1442.
  • Considerable service advantage results from the use of a continuous flat surface mounted OLED 1400 as compared to discrete devices such as SMD-LEDs 1312 and LEDs which require the interposition of a flat transparent surface to accomplish the same objective. This is because such flat surfaces may be easily cleaned by the use of the sharpened edge of a conventional beekeeper’s hive tool (not illustrated).
  • OLED panel 1400 compared with SMD-LED 1312 and conventional LEDs, is that OLED panel 1400 maybe brighter and may include several emission layers of different emission wavelengths to permit uniform controlled selective emission of all desired wavelengths, or a subset of desired wavelengths that can be programmed to emit at the same location.
  • a second advantage of OLED panel 1400 is their conformable surface area that can less expensively pack the desired light emission features into smaller spaces than either SMD-LED 1312 or conventional LEDs.
  • SMD-LEDs 1312 or conventional LEDs do not conform well to a small radius of curvature to easily or inexpensively irradiate all surface areas of a bee from all sides. In all such cases the flexibility of the OLED 1400 allows emission from different angles of curvature to permit irradiation of the subject bee from multiple directions.
  • Flexible light strip1500 comprises a resilient, elongate substrate 1552 preferably fabricated from a flexible polymer material.
  • the elongate substrate 1552 may comprise any length and width, and include single or multiple layers.
  • flexible light strip 50 may include a substrate 1552 that is about 2 inches wide and about 36 inches long.
  • a plurality of SMD-LEDs 1554 may be mounted onto the substrate 1552 in an arbitrary non-ordered manner or alternatively mounted in an ordered, specific pattern.
  • SMD-LEDs 1554 may be mounted in series, onto substrate 1552, or alternatively, the SMD-LEDs 1554 may be paired two-by-two, or three-by-three, sequentially on substrate 1552 to provide a larger number of light emitting devices.
  • flexible light strip 1500 can be physically twisted over part of its length to obtain an illumination pattern capable of directing rays of light in a particular direction, denoted at 1556.
  • the flexible light strip 1500 can be placed flat in the straight regions and placed substantially vertically in the curved region 1556 where the direction of light is indicated by the flow of arrows extending to the left.
  • top board illuminator 1660 showing light rays emanating vertically downward from light emitting panel 1610.
  • Top board illuminator 1660 is operatively positioned on top of a bee hive in such a manner that light rays emanating from the light emitting panel 1610 extend downwards to illuminate the internal cavity of the bee hive and any honey bees that are present in the hive.
  • D1 overhang is designed to extend slightly outward from the edges of the inner frame members to an overhang of non-critical dimension serving as an eave to provide some protection from rain or a shade around the peripheral edges of the bee hive.
  • Framework screen 1700 includes a generally square or rectangular, outer frame defined by frame members 1702, 1704, 1706 to provide a sturdy, rigid support by the surfaces of each of these members visible in this view, such that each of these surfaces serve as the resting place in abutment to a bee hive box.
  • a fourth frame member is purposely omitted to provide an opening for honey bees to enter and exit the bee hive. This lateral opening is the hive entrance.
  • frame members 1702, 1704, 1706 are composed of opaque materials, wood, lightweight plastic, molded fiberglass composite, or any metal such as aluminum.
  • Framework screen 1700 further includes a mesh 1708 securely attached, in a rigid, non- sagging manner to frame members 1702, 1704, 1706.
  • a functional purpose of the mesh 1708 is to provide improved bee hive ventilation in the presence of heat given off by irradiation from below.
  • Mesh 1708 can be designed to allow light rays, generated from light emitting panels 1300, 1400, and flexible light strip 1500, to pass through to effectively irradiate honey bees.
  • Mesh 1708 also provides a rapid disposal filter for small detritus and particles so that these do not clutter or impede the walking surface of the bees.
  • Mesh 1708 also has a plurality of gaps being a part of its structure. These gaps limit the quantity of condensation or moisture that may otherwise collect and pool on a solid bottom board surface. The high surface area of the mesh allows it to dry quickly. The dry mesh then acts to limit the growth or transfer of undesirable or pathogenic fungus on the most heavily used walking surface for bees.
  • Mesh 1708 also provides a floor for bees to walk on but not climb through, and this feature allows an option of installing a heating mat for convection of warm air upward to bees while presenting a barrier to avoid any direct contact with hot surfaces directed from below to overwintering bees in cold climates.
  • mesh 1708 may comprise a metal or plastic wire mesh, or a mesh cloth, and is preferably constructed from a galvanized low alloy steel to provide mechanical strength while conferring oxidation resistance at the location of maximum humidity.
  • Mesh 108 may comprise the same dimensions as a Langstroth hive body which is about 16.5 inches in length by about 13.5 inches in width.
  • the wire gauge size of the mesh 1708 should be kept to a minimum to allow light to pass through. However, the mesh holes should be great enough in area so as not to obstruct the passage of most light rays, and to provide sufficient clearance to permit dead mites and detritus such as wax particles and discarded pollen to pass through for later removal.
  • the mesh size of mesh 1708 is about 0.125 inches wide, by measure of the average gap opening.
  • mesh 1808 is affixed to frame members 1802, 1804, 1806 and securely attached along the surfaces of frame members 1802, 1804 and 1806. Peripheral edges of mesh 1808 may be folded to provide a structural integrity when attaching the mesh to frame members.
  • Mesh 1808 may be attached using any well-known fastening means including but not limited to snaps, adhesive, tape, screws, tacks, or the like.
  • mesh 108 is attached to frame members 1802, 1804, 1806 using conventional staples, denoted at 1810-1812, 1816-1818.
  • cross-bars comprising a thin plastic material or small wires may be attached between frame members 1802 and 1804 to support the mesh 1808.
  • Bottom board illuminator 1900 includes a generally square or rectangular drawer frame 1902 having slots 1904 for removably receiving and guiding a drawer 1906 in the directions shown by the pair of double direction open ended arrows.
  • Drawer 1906 includes a flat, transparent member 1910 that may be fabricated from any durable, rigid material, including but not limited to, Plexiglas®, glass, plastic, or any other suitable transparent material.
  • Flat, transparent member 1910 is permanently inserted into an about 0.125-inch groove of drawer face 1908 and permanently secured there by any type of adhesive glue.
  • drawer face 1908 is considered a part of the set of frame members 1902 to complete four orthogonal sides of frame 1902 when this drawer is closed.
  • the functional benefit of the drawer 1906 is to shield the light emitting panel 1300 from damage, debris, wax, mites, beetles, or pollen detritus accumulation, while providing accessibility to beekeepers for cleaning purposes.
  • Drawer 1906 further includes an access knob 1912 mounted to grooved drawer face 1908 to easily grasp and slide the drawer 1906 through slots 1904 during use.
  • Bottom board illuminator 1900 further includes an illuminator base 1914 defined by a floor support 1914 that is attached to support legs 1916 and 1918.
  • support legs 1916, 1918 are shown as lateral members extending across support 1914, legs 1916, 1918 may comprise vertical posts, or vertical, telescoping posts that allow beekeepers to adjust the height of the bottom board illuminator if desired.
  • a light emitting panel 1300 as illustrated in FIG.13, is removably attached to the floor support 1914 by the use of any suitable fasteners.
  • the framework screen 1930 is constructively aligned to sit on top of the drawer frame 1902 when assembled together to further protect the transparent member 1910 from debris. Framework screen 1930 may be permanently or releasably attached together.
  • the outer frame of the framework screen 1930 may be integrally formed with the drawer frame 1902 to provide a single unit.
  • the framework screen 1930 may comprise an outer frame having slots that permit users to easily remove the mesh member from the outer frame for replacement or cleaning purposes.
  • a mesh drawer frame that is constructed in similar fashion to the drawer frame 1902 may be incorporated for use.
  • FIG.20 there is shown a front view 2000 of the bottom board illuminator 1900 of FIG.19, shown assembled together, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Optional extension dimension D2 of 2000 is about one inch, where this space is designed to accept the mounting of any wireless devices or to provide a resting ledge to install some types of power supplies in an area that is rarely disturbed and located away from all other seams and joints requiring routine access or disassembly to service the colony of bees residing in the beehive.
  • the top horizontal surfaces of the bottom board illuminator 2000 assembled together is shown to abut and be securely disposed under the matching diameters of the bee hive box.
  • the bottom board illuminator assembly orientation illustrated in FIG. 20 represents exemplary placement under a conventional Langstroth bee hive box, where the direction of light flow is always specifically upward from the light source 1300 and directed to irradiate the inside content of the bee hive.
  • the irradiation provided by the light emitting devices of the light source 1300 is preferentially red at about 660 nm to destroy microbes and zoonotic fungi, however it may include green light at about 530 nm, especially where there are two hive boxes without a queen excluder available for the queen and other negative phototaxic bees to migrate and find comfortable darkened regions away from direct green light irradiation.
  • FIG.21 is a conceptual view of honey bees on a section of the wire mesh 2108 at framework screen 2100, from the directional perspective of 1920 in FIG.19, however seen in a perspective orientation from slightly above the Langstroth bee hive entrance having lateral dimension D4 and height D3.
  • the lighter areas near the center of this view are to represent the irradiation from the bottom board illuminator 200 that is shown by three open ended arrows in FIG. 20 arising from irradiant light source panel 1300 in FIG.20, which is located below the plane of this conceptual view of wire mesh screen 108.
  • FIG.21 demonstrates the way that the illumination strikes the bees on the wire mesh from below as well as to show how the irradiation may appear at the hive entrance location from the visual perspective of an observer.
  • Brooder hanging frame 2200 having Flexible Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Display (OLED) 1400 functioning as the irradiation source and the structural support for wax honeycomb adhered to each irradiation surface of 1400 by a conventional wax deposition and printing process.
  • Brooder hanging frame 2200 may be powered from a central power source where the electric power is supplied in a preferred electrical polarity of direct current (DC).
  • Top bar 2202 has a machined slot 2204 about 0.5 inch deep extending laterally between distal ends and having a gap of about 0.25 inches to accept support substrate 2206 which is adhesively glued into the top bar 2202.
  • the other side of substrate 2206 includes OLED 1400 and all honeycomb or honeycomb foundation described below. It is noted that to convey electric power to each OLED 1400, wires L1 and L2 are used. These attach to a power supply to convey and supply electrical current.
  • the raised wax pattern provided by hexagon wax foundation 2208 is printed onto the surface of OLED 1400 to provide the foundation for the bees to add wax for the construction of a wax honeycomb cell.
  • White hexagonal lines at 2208 represent the printed wax foundation of about 1 mm depth as deposited onto OLED 1400, depending on the hexagonal pattern size described below.
  • the honey bees can build up completed cells from the foundation pattern in stages as shown by the element 2212 partly completed honeycomb wax cells shown as having both black and white line borders.
  • the element 2210 fully formed wax honeycomb cell is represented by completely black hexagons; as created by the honey bees by the addition of bees wax to the printed foundation provided, it is typically about 11.3 mm deep, and the opening of the cell is reinforced with a wax trim to prevent the loss of honey, sealed for long term honey storage, or sealed for the purpose of gestating brood bee larvae.
  • completed hexagon 2210 cell diameter is the industry standard of about 5.3 mm to about 5.4 mm to provide a wax enclosure fitted for the development of female worker honey bee larvae; the same printed hexagonal cell size is used by the bees for the construction of an empty wax cell having a raised rim to store honey.
  • An optional alternative cell size provided by 2208 wax foundation is about 6.6 mm to provide a wax enclosure fitted for the development of male drone honey bees.
  • Other sizes of printed wax foundation hexagons are possible and may be printed onto OLED 1400 at any location as a preferred size, especially for alternative species of bees.
  • Irradiation is applied by OLED 1400 to wax honeycomb cells 2214, 2210, 2212, 2208 depending on the desired result and the time of year.
  • Continuous illumination maximized at about 660 nm wavelength can be applied by the irradiation of 1400 to wax honeycomb cells 2214 of about 5.4 mm diameter containing female worker honey bee eggs, larvae, or pupae to convert most of such juvenile bees into an emerged adult forager bee phenotype, rather than an emerged adult nurse bee phenotype.
  • green light at about 320 nm can be applied for 1 hour at about noon to significantly reduce or eliminate any nurse bee phenotype to maximize honey production.
  • Both sides of the brooder hanging frame may have the same or a different combined pattern of cell size and spectral wavelength.
  • the wavelengths of light emitted from under the wax foundation arising from OLED 1400 may be selected from UV-B light, from visible light, or from infra-red light, as each of these may then be directed at the eggs or larvae or pupae of 2214, to include the pests of bees inside the honeycomb cell.
  • the distribution or the intensity of illumination radiation wavelengths provided may also be altered at some times of the year when the objectives of the beekeeper change, for example OLED 1400 is used at low power in spring to manipulate the development of larvae, and at high power during the mid-summer months at peak nectar flow to enhance the effective destruction of various different kinds of pests having a population boom during this season, especially directed or differently directed to selectively target those pests having a sensitivity or characteristic susceptibility to the application of such wavelengths.
  • the configuration of these patterns and intensities of light may provide a suitable source of spectral irradiation for the operation of the brooder hanging frame.
  • FIG.23 is an interposition frame 2300, having flexible light strip 1500 shown in FIG.15 and herein shown by FIG.23 as wound around a compliant outer frame support spar 2302 and a second a compliant outer frame support spar 2304.
  • the support spars 2302, 2304 can be made of materials such as a hollow polypropylene straw, extruded polyethylene foam, a paper straw, corrugated paper, or corrugated plastic laminate, wood, or rubber to serve as an electrical insulating material that will not cause an electrical short.
  • the transparent covering or substrates 2306, 2308 are securely attached to each other by adhesive 2314, 2315 such as, for example, transparent flexible silicone sealant or other transparent flexible polymeric adhesive glue of about 0.25 inches depth and thickness.
  • adhesive 2314, 2315 can form a perimeter seal to completely assemble and cover the outer exposed edges of the seams between them, in a manner that protects the light emitting region of flexible light strip 1500 from the entry of debris, dirt, pollen, insect parasites, and wax particles at each exposed perimeter edge of 2306, 2308.
  • the transparent assembly is optionally fitted using optional top spar 2320 and bottom spar 2330 made from hard rubber, wood, or plastic to fit the longest side or sides of assembled 2306, 2308 using centered slotted gaps in top beams 2320, 2330 of about 0.5 inches depth as indicated by 2312, 2332 to fit over the assembled edges 2306, 2308 to the extent indicated by the open ended arrows in FIG.
  • Holes 2322, 2324, 2326, 2328 are to bear the load of the interposition frame 2300.
  • Secure load bearing may be accomplished by the conventional fastening of hanging wires 2316, 2318, 2320, 2322, or hanging chains, or hanging strings, or hanging cables, or other conventional fasteners such as screws or nails that are able to support or secure an object in a traditional manner to a supporting and rigid substrate.
  • only one such top spar 2310 may be attached to the interposition hanging frame 2300.
  • Wire 2316 is securely fastened to the right distal end of top spar 2310, passed through hole 2316, and downwards to the bottom center of the lateral length of transparent substrate 2308, over the adhesive joint at the bottom center, then across the opposing face of transparent substrate 2306 to pass through hole 2322 and then fastened to the left distal end of top spar 2310 using staples or a plastic zip tie or another conventional fastening method. This process may be repeated to obtain more than one support loop if desired.
  • a plurality of interposition hanging frames 2300 having only one top spar 2310 may be placed for vertical hanging by setting the distal ends of top spar 2310 of interposition frame 2300 onto the support ledges inside of a traditional Langstroth bee hive, therein functioning to provide illumination between and directly into the cells of honeycomb wax hanging frames, for example, for treatment of bee larvae and pupae.
  • frame 2300 may also be placed horizontally across such frames to irradiate bees in the gap regions between frames using, for example, a different wavelength of light to preferentially and directly irradiate such adult bees as may walk across the surfaces of the honeycomb frames, while not penetrating as far or as intensely into the wax of the hanging honeycomb frames.
  • transparent substrates 2306, 2308 are composed of Plexiglas (methyl methacrylate polymer) or tempered safety glass, or similar material that is transparent to visible and near infrared light, or optionally quartz glass that is more transparent to some spectral regions of UV light.
  • the transparent substrate is a reactive acrylic polymer, a reactive polystyrene polymer, a reactive epoxy polymer, or other reactive co-polymer able to be transparent, and seal the assembly of 1500 between 2302 and 2304 and bounded by the outside flat surfaces shown by 2306, 2308.
  • This assembly may then be provided with optional adhesive bead 2314, 2315 now adhering to the perimeter using a gap or slot machined or cast into the edges to retain it and to conform around any sharp edge of the interposition frame 2300 when it is desirable to provide a compliant safety bumper.
  • Light can be emitted to the back side of interposition frame 2300 by a plurality of SMD-LED 2352, as well as to the front side.
  • electric current is provided to power the plurality of SMD-LEDs on 2350 flexible light strip by conductive electrical connection 2314 and 2312 to L1 and L2, where the actual wiring is hidden and is not shown by this view.
  • flexible light strip 1500 may be substituted with one or more of panel 1300, OLED panel 1400, of sufficient intensity of light emission, to substitute another functional light source to provide similar irradiation in the design of the interposition hanging frame embodiment 2300.
  • the wavelengths of light emitted from such panels may be selected from UV-B light, from visible light, or from infra-red light, as each of these may then be directed at bees, at their eggs or larvae, or at the pests of bees in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention.
  • interposition frame 2300 can be inserted between conventional wax honeycomb hanging frames or between brooder hanging frames 2200 to assist with the manipulation of the development of honey bee larvae.
  • Interposition hanging frame 2300 is operated at high power and high spectral radiation intensity for brief periods during the mid-summer and autumn months to enhance the effective contrast imaging of small hive beetles at about 520 nm green irradiation. This light wavelength improves the ability of guard bees to visually recognize large invasive insect pests for disposal.
  • Interposition hanging frames 2300 may be deployed to emit low intensity visible light at or near about 460 nm blue irradiation directed into specific bee hive boxes to cause the queen honey bee to avoid laying her eggs into those locations and to leave such irradiated regions for the exclusive purpose of honey storage and later harvesting without contamination by insect parts for the duration of that illumination, such that the visible light thereby serves as a“virtual queen excluder” where the remaining bee hive boxes not continuously irradiated at visible wavelengths become dedicated to the raising of brood.
  • Other various programs of light irradiation timing, intensity, and wavelength selection provide differing modes of therapy to the honey bee hive using the interposition frame 2300.
  • Interposition frame 400 may obtain a maximum distribution of controlled irradiation of light displayed to the maximum number of different settings and locations of the bee hive by taking advantage of optional programmable light configurations in geometric patterns and intensities of irradiation; these illuminations are to be a suitable source of spectral irradiation for proper operation and use.
  • top board illuminator 1600 can include a light emitting panel that is selectively operated to generate light rays that extend downwards to irradiate the internal cavity of hive box 2402 and any bees present therein.
  • the top board illuminator 1600 is most desirably irradiating red light at 660 nm to control undesirable microbes and zoonotic fungi inside the beehive.
  • top board illuminator 1600 and bottom board illuminator 2000 may comprise any of light emitting panel 1300, flexible OLED panel 1400, or flexible light strip 1500, or any effective combination thereof.
  • Bee hive box 2402 is structurally defined by sidewalls and end-walls attached together for providing enclosure to honey bees.
  • bee hive box 2402 may comprise a conventional box of a Langstroth bee hive, though other conventional bee hive boxes may be used.
  • Langstroth bee hive box 2402 includes support ledges 2404, 2406 at each distal end of hive box 2402. Such pair of support ledges are used to hang a plurality of hanging frames, such as any combination of brooder honeycomb frames 2200, or interposition hanging frames 2300 having a single top spar, or other types of conventional wax honeycomb hanging frames that are acceptable for honey bees.
  • Bee hive box 2402 is aligned to fit over the bottom board illuminator 2000 such that the lower edges of the box rest in abutment to screen framework, where a missing frame member in screen framework is designed to constitute the bee hive entrance as a lateral opening having vertical height D3 of about 0.5 inches such that the upper extent of D3 is limited by the lowest edge of the bottom of 2402 hive box and the lower extent of D3 is limited by the framework screen of 2450.
  • the hive entrance is also bounded by a horizontal width D4 of about 15 inches, provided in horizontal range along the lateral front lower edge of 2402 bee hive box This position can be seen when hive box 2402 is fully set onto the bottom board illuminator 2000.
  • a region D5 of 2414 back support provides a ledge onto which perimeter, may be set or affixed the electronic devices or storage batteries used to operate the apparatus, such that these may be mounted at a location associated with the least disturbance to the beekeeper and the beehive as such beehives are opened for inspection and other servicing.
  • D5 can be about 2 inches.
  • Bottom board illuminator 2000 includes a light emitting panel 1300 that is selectively operated to generate light rays upwards to irradiate the internal cavity of box 2402 and any bees present therein.
  • a light emitting panel 1300 that is selectively operated to generate light rays upwards to irradiate the internal cavity of box 2402 and any bees present therein.
  • embodiments provide both upwardly directed light from below and downwardly directed light from above when both a top board illuminator 1600 and a bottom board illuminator 2000 are implemented. This may be an advantage when many bees occlude each other from experiencing significant amounts of the provided irradiation, especially when two bee hive boxes are stacked in a two-tier configuration using conventional non-illuminated honeycomb wax frames.
  • brooder hanging frames 2200 or optional interposition hanging frames 2300 may be set to hang vertically between conventional non-illuminated honeycomb wax frames to irradiate the darkened regions of the central or middle hive box or boxes.
  • alternating interposition frames 2300 with alternating conventional wax honeycomb hanging frames into a hive box 2402, sometimes it may be preferable to install only brooder frames 2200 into a single hive box 2402 with a conventional top board and no top board illuminator and a conventional bottom board and no bottom board illuminator; other arrangements and combinations are also possible.
  • FIG.25 is an exploded view of a conventional one-tiered Langstroth Bee Hive Assembly 2500 having a having a transparent top board 2550 fitted with optical bandpass filter sufficient to regulate the amount of heat energy entering the hive, to be set to rest loosely in abutment on the top of a conventional Langstroth bee hive box 2560.
  • Bee hive box 2560 is structurally defined by sidewalls and end-walls attached together for providing enclosure to honey bees.
  • the one tier Langstroth bee hive box 2560 is to contain and support a number of hanging frames, usually 10 frames, as shown by the three illustrated representative hanging honeycomb foundation frames 2510, 2520, 2530.
  • Langstroth bee hive box 2560 includes support rails or ledges on which to rest a plurality of frames 2510, 2520, 2530, where the side rails are shown by 660, 670 in FIG.6.
  • Langstroth hive box 2560 is aligned to fit over the screened bottom board illuminator 2000 such that the lower edges of box 2560 rest in abutment to the raised frame edges of 2000.
  • Optional supplementary electric illumination is conferred by the bottom board illuminator 2000.
  • FIG.26 is a 3-tiered Langstroth bee hive 2600, where the substrate of the top board 1600 is made with conductive lightweight metal such as aluminum or polymer-bonded ceramic material for passively accelerating heat conduction away from the inside of this beehive containing one or more irradiation devices mounted somewhere inside the bee hive. Excess heat is often unavoidably or uncontrollably associated with light generation.
  • the location of top board 1600 is therefore shown to be located at the top of the bee hive because it is an ideal location for a passive heat dissipation device, since heated air tends to rise and gather near the top of the inside of the beehive.
  • the bottom board illuminator 2000 which is expected to be the coolest region of the beehive.
  • Optional supplementary electric illumination is conferred by the bottom board illuminator 2000.
  • the rest of the materials of the Langstroth bee hive are usually wood or wood byproducts, but may also consist of polymers or expanded polymers such as polystyrene, all the parts of which tend to express very good insulating qualities. Insulating material characteristics could however pose an overheating problem that is damaging to bees and their brood when waste or excessive heat is emitted but not given supplementary routes to exit from any operating luminary devices inside of the bee hive. Accelerating excess generated heat away from the inside of a beehive using one or more passive heat conduction materials is one embodiment of the light irradiation utilized.
  • FIG.27 is a perspective view of a Langstroth bee hive 2700, composed of mostly opaque wooden materials that may be painted at any exterior surface to confer extra rain and moisture resistance.
  • the topmost hive box 50 has been loosely fitted with a transparent pane used as top board 2720.
  • Transparent top board 2720 can be fitted with optical bandpass filter sufficient to regulate the amount of heat energy entering the hive.
  • the number of bees observed through clear panels is substantially limited to positive phototaxic forager bees returning with pollen or nectar for storage, and may be desirable for cold climates but could also undesirably allow beehive 2700 to heat to excessive temperatures in summer in warmer climates or near to the equator.
  • the optical bandpass capability specified by the present top board 2720 can be configured to significantly reduce the amount of undesired solar irradiation conferring excessive heat to the interior of the bee hive. It can be made with acrylic or polycarbonate or other solid plastic. Also contained in FIG.27 are two modified Langstroth bee hive boxes 2710, where the latter/bottommost hive box 2710 is resting in stacked abutment onto a screened bottom board illuminator 2000. Optional supplementary electric illumination is conferred by the bottom board illuminator 2000.Two hollow insulating small sideboard panels 2730 and 2740, are shown above the region at opening 2770 provided at the lower right side of this assembly.
  • a walking honey bee on bottom board 2000 about to enter the only physical access 2770 to the hive.
  • incident light can now enter this beehive from the top board 2720 and sideboards 2730 and 2740, having been provided with optical bandpass capability to confer daytime phototreatment.
  • the use of localized cutoff filters for colors other than red can be directed at locations 2730 and 2740. Additional holes or entrances to the beehive are not required, but holes not to exceed about 1/8-inch may be added for ventilation purposes.
  • This configuration ensures all bees, including negative phototaxic bees such as the queen and the nurse bees, can become treated by the antimicrobial and detoxification mechanisms in accordance with the method of selective placement of optical bandpass irradiation.
  • FIG.28 is a perspective view of a three-tiered Langstroth bee hive 2800, showing the top board replacement with an optical bandpass hollow plastic panel 2820.
  • This type of panel is extremely lightweight, therefore it must be secured to the abutting Langstroth hive box 50 by two or more fastening points, such as achieved by conventional fastening methods.
  • Velcro, string tie-downs, cable loops, fender washers with screws, or rubber sealing grommets are examples of non-limiting conventional fastening methods capable of reversible attachment. Permanent attachment methods are not desired because access to the interior of the hive box must take place on a routine basis to service the bees in the hive, or to remove honey for harvesting.
  • top board 2820 has the useful quality of providing ventilation at either end of these channels. This feature is now used to advantage when a multiplicity of small holes of about 1/8-inch diameter are drilled into the bottom face of panel 2820 to allow heat to escape from the interior of the hive. Holes larger than about 1/8-inch are avoided to prevent robber bees and predatory wasps to discover unguarded entrances.
  • the continuous outer upper surface of panel 2820 is preserved without puncture or drilling to maintain a roof that is water resistant in the event of a rainstorm.
  • the transparent material of top board 2820 has the specified property of optical bandpass filtering of external incident irradiation, such that phototreatment of honey bees is enabled within the bee hive.
  • Sideboards 2830 and 2840 as part of the structure of hive boxes 2810 also have the property of bandpass filtering, and may be selected from colors other than red as required for modifying the preference of some types of bees from spending time at these locations, at the discretion of the beekeeper.
  • Sideboards 2830 and 2840 may provide approximately the same optical bandpass as top board 2820, or they may be different. Indeed, the optical bandpass of sideboard 2830 may be different from the optical bandpass provided by sideboard 2840.
  • FIG.29 is a perspective view of a three-tiered Langstroth bee hive 900 showing the top board replacement with an optical bandpass hollow plastic panel 2910.
  • Each of the side panels of the Langstroth hive boxes 2920, 2930, and 2940 have been replaced with hollow channel plastic optical bandpass panels.
  • the details of the construction and orientation of the materials of 2920, 2930, and 2940, except for optional corner reinforcements, are illustrated and described with respect to FIG.7 and 8.
  • the hive box contents of upper box 2920 have not been installed to convey the transparency of each of the side panel components in this three-tiered
  • Hive box 2940 can have a pass band of about 650 nanometers, being opaque at shorter wavelengths to confer a red color, and to allow phototreatment to this hive box in the region where honey bee brood are being raised and the queen bee tends to spend most of her time along with her entourage of nurse bees.
  • the hive box 2930 can have a transparent orange or amber color with an optical pass band of greater than about 590 nanometers to match the visible absorption spectrum and transmission color of honeycomb usually found at this height in Langstroth bee hives.
  • the hive box 2920 can have a transparent yellow color with an optical passband of greater than about 570 nanometers to match the visible absorption spectrum and transmission color of honeycomb usually found at this height in Langstroth bee hives, especially if traditional queen excluder mesh (not shown) has been used to traditionally exclude the queen from travel up into this region of the bee hive to keep harvested honey comb free of the insect parts of developing brood bees.
  • the top board 2910 can have a transparent green color with an optical pass band of greater than about 510 nanometers to match and emulate the visible absorption spectrum and transmission color of typical green jungle canopy usually found at this height in the upper part of bee hives that have been observed to be affixed to the undersides of branches in the rain forest.
  • the colors of this beehive therefore vary from top to bottom, being green, yellow, orange, and then red at the bottom.
  • FIG.30 illustrates a 3-tier optical bandpass (phototreatment) beehive 3000 consisting of three each of optical bandpass hive boxes 1000 stacked vertically, wherein the interior frames have been removed for clarity to show the position of sensors.
  • Light intensity meter 3100 generates a voltage signal in proportion to the intensity of light arriving inside the beehive, where such light may arrive by sunlight passing through transparent sides of optical bandpass hive box 1000 during the day or from supplemental night illumination provided by optional bottom board illuminator 2000 and optional top board illuminator 1600.
  • External light sensor 3105 is placed in an opaque region to face away from the interior of the beehive to record the ambient outside light both during the day and during the night.
  • Internal temperature sensor 3300 provides a current and voltage in proportion to the temperature inside the beehive, so that temperature can be measured at a position opposite to the hive entrance indicated by white arrow 3600 to be away from the direct incursion of outside drafts or possible gusts of air.
  • External temperature sensor 3305 provides similar voltage output to measure the ambient air temperature external to the beehive.
  • CO2 sensor 3000 is placed near the bottom of the beehive to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide gas (CO2), because CO2 is generally heavier than air and tends to accumulate in low places, however the position of this sensor is as far away as possible away from the beehive entrance indicated by white arrow 3600 to avoid signal variability and noise from possible gusts of fresh air.
  • CO2 carbon dioxide gas
  • CO2 sensor 3000 may be in the bottom box, at a side away from the entrance.
  • Microphone 3200 is placed on the far side of the hive from the hive entrance to avoid measuring noise intensity from the environment that is not generated by honeybees. While this sensor can be placed in any of the hive boxes, is ideally located near to the top of the bottom most hive box 1000 where nurse bees are most active tending brood during all hours of the day.
  • Solar power supply 3400 provides DC voltage to operate all of the sensors and all of the electronic equipment through multiple wires inside the wrapped cable 3700.
  • the solar panel at the external top surface of Power Supply 3400 is fed into batteries that store energy for cloudy days or days with reduced sunlight, and is also routed through cables to the electric light sources of the optional top board illuminator 1600 and bottom board illuminator 2000 when needed but these cables are not shown in this view.
  • a view of light source 1300 power wiring L1, L2 was shown in FIG.13. Both power and sensor voltages are routed into the inside of weigh scale 1100 where the outside of this scale is illustrated in FIG.11, and the internal electronics placed into the chassis of this scale are better illustrated by the internal view shown in FIG.12.
  • the lower part of bottom board 2000 fits around the top and sides of the weigh scale assembly 1100 to reduce the likelihood of tipping or accidental displacement.
  • Weigh Scale 1100 is occasionally tared without the hive on top to compensate for any long term drift from zero weight in the output of the unloaded balance. Some drift in the measurement of weight by the scale arises from temperature; a calibration curve of constant weight versus ambient temperature allows compensation for this effect in climates where large deviations in temperature are common or prevalent, and this calibration should be checked periodically for weight measurement accuracy.
  • the CO2 concentration in outside atmosphere away from breathing animals is presently at or near about 400 ppm. This concentration should be checked occasionally to ensure sensor operation is within the manufacturer’s tolerance of the current standard atmospheric CO2 composition. Also, the ambient outside CO2 concentration is slowly increasing about 10 ppm per decade.
  • Typical CO2 concentrations in active hives can become as high as about 5000 ppm, and the maximum sensor range is selected to be about 10,000 ppm. It should be noted that dusty conditions or external scratches and oxidation of transparent surfaces will slowly cause reduced light transmission to the inside of the beehive to affect the intensity of light that reaches the bees inside the optical bandpass beehive box. Moreover, hives may be placed under a tree that has variable foliage cover at different times of the year. The measurement of both the external unfiltered light and the internal bandpass filtered light is required to determine the effect of these contributions or changes on overall light treatment efficacy. All sensor data including hive weight are
  • the time interval of recorded data can be selected to measure variations in bee activity and changing light conditions as clouds or rainclouds pass through the area, or as nectar flow changes from one type of vegetation to another.
  • Insect pollinator medicaments are described for effectively managing all types of infectious microorganisms and highly reactive toxic organic poisons capable of invasively breaching animal cell walls to impair function, negatively impact health, and decrease normal lifespan.
  • the present embodiments provide fullerene ionomers and methods for employing fullerene molecules to treat disease and cure illnesses.
  • fullerene can represent a single molecular entity or a plurality of such molecules in a dispersed or non-agglomerated nanoparticle state.
  • Dosages of fullerenes can be managed by ionomers that may also be formulated without limitation in any type of ionomeric vesicular or ionomeric micellar geometry.
  • Management of therapeutic fullerene dosages also can supply excited states of fullerene by means of near-infrared spectral absorbance ranging from about 700 nanometers to about 1100 nanometers wavelength because of the very large infrared absorbance cross-section of the fullerenes.
  • Barriers to the economic and technological implementation of the fullerenes in medicine and animal husbandry include unwanted and undesirable protein denaturing as well as genetic molecular chain scission caused by the excessive water solubility of fullerene derivatives using an aqueous dosage method.
  • Edible ionomers can be formulated to especially obtain ionomeric vesicles and micelles because of a mechanical shearing operation, wherein the shearing of fullerenes in an ionomeric matrix containing organic salts is able to induce the stable retention of as many as 6 electrons of negative charge to the fullerene molecule by charge networking and screening effects.
  • Such molecular charge induction allows fullerene to be stabilized for metabolic dispersion using therapeutic dosages appropriate to animals.
  • fullerene ionomeric networks are temporary associations based on charges and are not chemical points of attachment such as in the formation of a fullerene derivative or a covalent bond to a fullerene molecule.
  • Barriers to the application of fullerene medicaments and derivatives includes the cost of functionalizing these molecules to have sufficient water solubility to mobilize them for the purpose of administering a therapeutic dosage, yet still maintain some therapeutic ability. Therapeutic ability is reduced by functionalization. Moreover, water soluble fullerene derivatives do not become sequestered within the bilayer of lipid membranes. The present barriers to targeted fullerene dispersion and deployment within specific cell wall lipid interfaces without in-vivo agglomeration have presently been surmounted by the use of the edible and digestible ionomeric charge network formation method.
  • Neural growth enhancement is enabled by exposure of neurons to static electric charge gradients where the anodic or positively charged region is concentrated at the top of the brain and the upper body surfaces. Nature allows bees the development of charge polarization by supplying positive charges during flight that are expressed by dynamic frictional wing to wing surface abutment shearing effects above the bee, as well as by the negative grounding effects of flowers and substances in contact with the earth that are normally present below the bee.
  • Fullerenes and fullerols are highly prone to negative charge accumulation, being able to accept as many as six (6) electrons on one molecule.
  • Fullerenes or fullerols having negative charge tend to migrate through the lipid bilayer of a neural cell to that portion of the neuron where a neurite growth cone is associated with positive charged regions of the cell wall.
  • the growth cone is where the most highly charged regions of the neurite are located at the tips of the filopodia. This effect arises because charges migrate to the tips of pointy objects.
  • the presence of fullerol at filopodia tips has the effect of destabilizing or weakening the cohesiveness of the lipid bilayer in the cell walls at these locations because of charge balance effects.
  • the weakened resistance to internal cell turgor pressure supplied by the neuron then causes accelerated filopodia extension and elongated filopodia structures arising from the tip region, yielding filopodia that are suddenly able to reach much further into deep brain structures.
  • the purpose of establishing communication with neurons at a significantly greater distance than would be possible for the network of transmitting and receiving neurons without the assistance of a fullerol neurite growth accelerant, is to enhance whole brain connectivity.
  • stabilization chemistry and lipid bilayer distortion can be harnessed for the improvement of honeybee cognition for the improved navigational process of pollinators in apiculture.
  • fullerene can be, in general, both a radical scavenger in darkness, and a photosensitizer active with singlet oxygen when exposed to light, the presence of fullerols in-vivo confers a combination of therapies having unique functionality different from in-vitro results.
  • honeybees fed fullerol-8 ionomer are substantially translucent to visible light and substantially transparent to infra-red light, thereby allowing fullerols in any of the organs of the honeybee to react with oxygenated tissues to produce singlet oxygen for the purpose of detoxification. Foraging bees exposed to the most light, will also be exposed to the most of the organs of the honeybee.
  • honey has a number of natural photosensitizers as a part of its composition, none of these components can match the infra-red energy harvesting ability of fullerene or fullerol. Consequently, honey bees subjected to infra-red radiation will produce large amounts of singlet oxygen capable of acting in an antimicrobial capacity and especially acting in a detoxification capacity.
  • Antibiotic and detoxification effects in honey are somewhat improved by the presence of natural photosensitizers such as the quercetins obtained from capping sealant on bees’ wax cells intended to help protect bee brood.
  • fullerene and edible ionomers to bee products will greatly amplify the artificial photosensitizer effect with a strong ability by fullerol-8 to generate singlet oxygen.
  • This photolysis provides antimicrobial immunity that is expected to treat any bee that has been bitten and punctured by a Varroa mite on exposure of the puncture wound to air and infra-red radiation.
  • FIG.31 provides a view of fullerene ionomer 3110, where at least one cage shaped [60] fullerene molecule also known as C60 or buckminsterfullerene indicated by 3112, is
  • the fullerols are Van-der-Waals stabilized for long term storage without precipitation using an ionomeric liquid matrix having a melting point below about 100°C and composed of ionomers such as the indicated mixture of carboxylic acids including the amino acid proline 3111, carboxylic anions such as the proline anion 3116, , at least one complex phenolic such as quercetin 3115, at least one bioflavonoid such as the flavone 3118, about 17- percent of water 3117, a multiplicity of saccharides such as glucose 3119 and disaccharide sucrose 3113, wherein said ionomeric matrix can be composed with honey as one component and may be formulated with supplemental proline anions to enhance the ionomeric stabilization effect on fullerol nanoparticles, wherein the ionomeric formulation is an edible and non-toxic food or medicament serving as a carrier
  • fullerol-8 may be fabricated is an ultrasound-assisted acoustic cavitation technique, which encompasses a one-step facile reaction strategy, requires less time for the reaction, and reduces the number of solvents required for the separation and purification of
  • Adsorption to fullerol-8 is nearly universally stronger than that to C60 fullerenes. While the IXOOHUHQHV ⁇ UHO ⁇ VROHO ⁇ RQ ⁇ YDQ ⁇ GHU ⁇ :DDOV ⁇ DQG ⁇ K ⁇ GURSKRELF ⁇ LQWHUDFWLRQV ⁇ IRU ⁇ DGVRUSWLRQ ⁇ IXOOHURO-8 nanoparticles also have the capacity for hydrogen bonding while still allowing access to the hydrophobic carbon surface.
  • the increase in the number of hydroxyl groups from fullerene to fullerol-8 results in increased capability to form hydrogen bonds with water molecules, and thus, increasing water solubility.
  • fullerol-8 interacted most strongly with most chemicals also suggests that the adsorption of those chemicals is not driven solely by its low water solubility.
  • C60(OH)8 can provide a potent detoxifying agent for honey bees who ingest it.
  • fullerol-8 still needs to be diluted by an ionomer to provide long term resistance to crystallization by liquid media such as honey to be an effective honey bee detoxifier.
  • FIG.32 there is shown in cross section 3220 a lipid layer 3222 with polar molecular head groups facing outward into the aqueous or water based matrix outside a cell and non- polar tail groups facing inward toward a second lipid layer 3228 with polar molecular head groups facing outward toward the aqueous cell cytoplasm and non-polar head groups facing the outer proximal lipid layer 3222.
  • lipid bilayer 3222 and 3228 are fullerol nanoparticle molecules 3224, 3225, 3226 floating at the internal non-polar interface between the lipid bilayer 3222 and 3228 because these molecules find greater solubility and stability at this location than within water based environments.
  • FIG.33 is a cross section view 3300 of a lipid bilayer 3320 containing sequestered fullerols that is being breached at the external lipid layer 3320 of a cell by an infective virus particle 3332 having a protein coating called a capsid, where the capsid 3332 is under high internal pressure to contain a tightly packed viral genetic material 3334.
  • Capsid 3332 can be attracted to lipid bilayer 3320 by a net positive charge that is generally opposing that of the external cell wall, and is also drawn into the cell by the external presence of aliphatic or non-polar functional groups of the capsid that allow access to the inner non-polar functional groups of the lipid bilayer 3320.
  • this viral to lipid introduction 3300 exposes at least one sequestered fullerol of non-polar character that acts to denature the non-polar regions of the viral capsid 3332 protein coating sufficiently so that the viral capsid 3332 bonding weakens.
  • FIG.34 is a cross section view 3400 of the molecular remnants of an exploded virus particle showing viral capsid fragments 3442, 3444, 3446 and exposed viral genetic material now residing outside the external cell wall being susceptible to immune system reaction and expulsion from the intercellular spaces.
  • the external facing cellular lipid layer is reforming and becoming contiguous after the viral breach.
  • the fullerols 3424, 3425, 3426 have returned to being sealed and sequestered by the cellular lipid bilayer 3420, 3428.
  • FIG.35 is a cross section view of a mature neuron 3553 having a single cell nucleus 3555, and relatively negatively charged dendrites 3558 functioning to receive the input of for transmission of signals along the axon conduction path of the neurite 3559 where this neuron is growing a budded growth cone 3554 extending a multiplicity of filopodia 3556 with the charge balancing assistance of net negatively charged fullerol nanoparticles 3552, 3557 being attracted to concentrated positive charged regions of high curvature of the cell wall lipids at the filopodia distal points 3556.
  • FIG.36 is a cross section view of a honeybee brain 3660 with a neuron, axon, and fullerenes among the neurite growth cone 3642 shown in an expanded view from within an arbitrary location of one of the mushroom body lobes located near to the top region of the brain 3662, where the position of the honeybee antenna entry points 3664, 3666 are shown below the brain for perspective to the position of these brain structures.
  • FIG.37 is a view of the natural electric charge transfer effect 3770 between a free-flying honey bee 3772 and a flower 3777 in relation to the location of the positively charged top region of the insect brain 3760, where the positive charges indicated with symbol (+), arise from abutting shear rubbing motion of the honeybee wings 3774 in flight.
  • a net negative charge to earth ground is expressed in greatest concentration at the sharp points of flower petals 3776 and by the greatest extending anther structure 3778 so that an electrostatic field attraction 3775 moves loose pollen grains by static cling attraction to the underside of the bee 3772.
  • honeybee antenna and insect tongue or proboscis are located at the middle and lower parts of the honeybee head; these extensions as well as insect body hairs better known as sensillia serve as negative charge sensors at the underside of the bee and stimulate specialized bee neurons to signal the likely presence of a nearby negatively charged flower.
  • FIG.38 is a view of a fullerene ionomer synthesis 3890 by shear assisted charge network stabilization, where a multiplicity of fullerene reactant 3891 is converted to fullerol product 3893, and each of these are suspended in ionomer at mixing chamber 3897 to the level of the meniscus fill line indicated by the surface of the liquid to air interface at 3896.
  • a multiplicity of mechanical shearing vanes 3899 are caused to spin about impeller shaft 3898 in at least one arbitrary direction of mechanical spin maintained as indicated by the grey arrows 3894, 3895 to show the direction of continuous rotational movement of the shearing vanes.
  • the temperature of this process is above the freezing point of the liquid ionomer, and below the boiling point of the water component of the ionomer, and can be 80 degrees C.
  • Micellar formation having vesicles of about 5 to about 10 microns can be formed in this process because of the presence of dispersed water droplets in this mixture. Shearing rates of at least about 10 per second and preferably of about 100 to 1000 per second achieve the molecular charging objective for nanoparticle stabilization against sedimentation or
  • FIG.39 illustrates the method developed herein to solubilize and synthesize fullerol with eight hydroxyl groups from fullerene using USP food grade edible components in each operation.
  • the vacuum sublimed grade of fullerene C60 is obtained from a commercial vendor to assure no trace of toxic solvents used to purify fullerene are left in the product to ensure it is a food grade C60.
  • step S3920 apply 1000 per second shearing rate to the mixture while maintaining heat at 80 degrees C for 24 hours to assure the development of a deep purple color.
  • step S3930 add 2% by volume of 30% USP food grade hydrogen peroxide foaming and oxidizing agent to the hot mixture at 80C. During this time, the intermediate fullerene epoxide will be formed.
  • step 3940 apply ultrasound to the 80 degrees C hot solution mixture at 20 kilohertz and 200 milliwatts power for one hour, while continuing to shear at 1000 per second.
  • step S3950 add 10% by weight of distilled water while continuing shear, ultrasound, and maintaining 80 degrees C. A physical illustration of this point in the process is illustrated in FIG.38 by showing the tendency of fullerols to accumulate in micelles that swirl near the bottom of the reaction vessel.
  • step S3960 stop the shearing and ultrasonic processes, and allow the solution to cool and separate into two layers.
  • step S3970 collect the white colored lower layer containing water and fullerol-8 product, and filter this solution through a filter having no greater than 45 microns of pore size to ensure the substantial removal of any non-dispersed materials.
  • step S3990 mix the artificial antioxidant and light activated photosensitizer fullerol-8 solution into the desired ionomer to create a long term stable master batch dispersion for the treatment of honeybee colonies.
  • This synthesis method produces a food grade apicultural additive useful at trace concentrations that is able to maintain colony health and reduce or eliminate the presence of pesticides by means of light initiated degradation and detoxification in accordance with the light frequency, light intensity, desired dosage of the fullerol component, and the local environmental pesticide concentrations requiring artificial honeybee photosensitizer treatment to mitigate undesirable toxicity to beneficial pollinating insects, especially that of the intended honeybee colonies.
  • pollen is the honey bee's main source of protein and it also provides fats/lipids, minerals, and vitamins.
  • the protein that pollen provides is used in brood production and the development of young bees.
  • Pollen is the most nutritionally variable food source that honey bees use and typically is composed of the following: water (7%–16%); crude protein (6%– 30%); ether extract (1%–14%); carbohydrates including reducing sugars (19%–41%), non- reducing sugars (0%–9%), starch (0%–11%); lipids (5%); ash (1%-6%); and unknown (22%– 36%). Pollen from different floral sources has different quantities of each component.
  • the protein pollen provides is needed for hive growth, but the amount of crude protein available in pollen is highly variable among different pollens, ranging from 6%–30% of the total dry weight of the pollen.
  • Protein is composed of amino acids, ten of which have been identified as essential to honey bees. These include threonine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, histidine, lysine, arginine, and tryptophan.
  • FIG.40 illustrates a method to treat honeybees with the artificial photosensitizer C60(OH)8 fullerol which activates in the presence of sunlight to perform pesticide detoxification, and provides antioxidant and antimicrobial properties to honeybees in darkness that are useful to maintain honeybee colony health.
  • dilute the ionomer stabilized master batch to the desired dosage appropriate for mitigating the risk of local environmental toxins or to help to improve the overall health of honeybees that is deemed appropriate to the specific conditions of the pollination service area.
  • a concentrated solution of sugar water serves as an adequate dosing medium.
  • step S1170 prepare a beehive colony for dosing by applying smoke to the area of the hive entrance.
  • step S1160 spread a thin layer of the diluted solution onto a flat cookie sheet or a plastic sheet that is sized to be able to insert it into or immediately in front of the opening available at a beehive entrance while still allowing bees to pass into and out of the hive. Allow the bees to feed on this tray for as long as they like, but remove the tray after no more than one day to return to normal conditions and maintain a constant environment that is free from the intrusion of alien smells or objects that may be likely to upset the bees if present over an extended period of time.
  • step S1160 the honeybee treatment process is repeated at an appropriate fullerol dosage to ensure newly emerged honeybees are treated with sufficient antioxidant and antimicrobial medicament to continue the maintenance of overall hive health, when these or chemically similar artificial photosensitizer supplements are applied.
  • Apparatus 4100 can include a single board computer 4105, which can be coupled to power module 4170 and data acquisition module 4110.
  • Data acquisition module 4110 can be coupled to light sensor module 4115, CO2 sensor 4130 having the purpose of determining the collective respiration of bees inside a beehive, relative humidity sensor 4135, sound sensor 4140, hive scale 4160, communication module 4165, and temperature sensor module 4145.
  • light sensor module 4115 can be coupled to light sensor 4120, which detects the amount of light outside of the hive, and light sensor 4125, which detects the amount of light within the hive.
  • temperature sensor module 4145 can be coupled to temperature sensor 4150, which can detect the temperature outside of the hive, and temperature sensor 4155, which can detect the temperature within the hive.
  • Power module 4170 can receive power from one or more sources including, without limitation, AC mains, battery, or solar power. Of course, other energy sources may supply power module 4170. Power module 4170 may convert incoming power to a voltage usable by single board computer 4105, for example, 5 VDC.
  • Hive scale 4160 can be similar to the weight scale illustrated with respect to scale 1100, 1200 in FIGS.11 and 12.
  • Single board computer 4105 may be, for example, a Raspberry Pi computer, available through The Raspberry Pi Foundation at https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/.
  • a suitable Raspberry Pi computer available through The Raspberry Pi Foundation at https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/.
  • the Raspberry Pi Model 3 is based on the Broadcom BCM 2837, 64-bit ARM processor. Other similar modules having comparable functionality may be used.
  • Single board computer 4105 can operate with a variant of Linux OS called RASPBIAN. This OS is downloaded onto an SD card (not shown) and inserted into SBC 4105.
  • Data acquisition (DAQ) module 4110 can be the hub of sensed data for apparatus 4100.
  • a suitable device for DAQ module 4110 can be a“Mini Nano V3.0 ATmega328P Microcontroller Board,” which is commercially available through Amazon.com at
  • Hive scale 4160 communicates hive weight with DAQ module 4110.
  • a suitable scale to measure the weight of a hive can be“440 lbs x 0.1 Lb.
  • Scale 4160 may have a stainless-steel waterproof platform and ABS base for anti-corrosion, as well as four adjustable feet for differences ground surface levels. Other scales with comparable capacity with low drift may be used. Electric scales can be load cells with Wheatstone bridges circuitry, and scale drift can be countered by employing signal conditioning 4162.
  • Signal conditioning device 4162 can be coupled between scale 4160 and DAQ module 4110.
  • Light module 4115 may employ light sensor 4120 to measure the light intensity outside the hive, and light sensor 4125 to measure the light intensity within the hive structure. Module 4115 functionality may be integrated in DAQ module 4110. Suitable devices for light sensors 4120, 4125 can be“MagiDeal Digital Light Intensity Sensor Photodiode Module Photoresistor,” which is commercially available through Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/
  • Module 4115 may be an integrated function of DAQ module 4110.
  • Temperature external to the hive 4150 can be coupled to DAQ module 4110 to track ambient temperature.“Sun founder DS18B20 Temperature Sensor Module for iOS and
  • the internal temperature 4155 and relative humidity inside the hive 4135 can be measured by “HiLetgo DHT22/AM2302 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensor,” which can be coupled to DAQ module 4110. This sensor is commercially available through Amazon.com at
  • Temperature 4155 and relative humidity 4135 can help to identify conditions for fungus growth, which can compromise hive health. Internal hive sound also can be an indicator of hive health. Therefore, a microphone or sound sensor also may be coupled to DAQ module 4120.
  • a suitable sound sensor for apparatus 4100 can be“RobotDyn - Microphone Sound (Voice) Detector module,” which is commercially available through Amazon.com at
  • the type of data collected for Hive Health Process Inputs may include, without limitation:
  • CO2 MAX usually near sunset (the daily maximum value of the carbon dioxide concentration in parts per million or ppm, as measured inside of the beehive, at or near the bottom and away from the hive entrance),
  • CO2 MIN (the daily minimum carbon dioxide concentration inside the beehive), usually near 1pm or near maximum daylight temperature
  • data collected for Hive Health Process Outputs may include, without limitation:
  • Cumulative Honey sum of acquired honey, to correlate with manual hive strength assay by COLOSS standard method referenced below.
  • Exemplary data obtained for this specification provides an average weight for 5377 “Italian” forager bees, yielding 0.101226 grams per forager bee, or 9.878922 bees in every gram; other species of bees will have slightly different weights.
  • the software determines the maximum change in CO2 between day and night, and the maximum hive weight difference between day and night.
  • the latter absolute weight difference is corrected in slope by the honey accumulation rate of the entire beehive with bees as a simple point slope formula evaluated from consecutive weight minima on as few as two previous nights. All bees missing during the day are assumed to be forager bees.
  • the daily CO2 utilization difference and the colony weight difference without the honey accumulation weight is used to indicate the average metabolic efficiency per forager bee, which relates to the daily strength of both the whole colony and of the forager bees of the colony.
  • FIG.42 illustrates bee health management software 4200 used in conjunction with apparatus 4100 in FIG.41.
  • DAQ module 4207 has firmware 4210 to aggregate all measurements and calibration procedures. Timing and synchronicity can be a significant considerations managed by firmware 4210. If power is disconnected to the DAQ module 4207, firmware 4210 will, upon reboot, continue to aggregate these measurements. As measurements become available, data is stored into the DAQ module memory 4215 and host controller, single board computer 4225, retrieves the data. In an embodiment, DAQ module 4207 communicates with SBC 4225 via USB connection 4217. The software for single board computer 4225 polls for available data on DAQ module 4207. When data is retrieved from memory 4215 of DAQ module 4207, single board computer 4225 parses the data and stores the data into a bee data text file 4220 for subsequent analysis.
  • Bee Data File Server 4230 allows smart device 4250, such as an external desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, or a smartphone (i.e., any piece of hardware that uses a standard web browser) to retrieve bee data text file 4220.
  • smart device 4250 such as an external desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, or a smartphone (i.e., any piece of hardware that uses a standard web browser)
  • the user types an address into the browser URL window of smart device 4250, and bee data text file 4220 is retrieved through Bee Data File Server 4230 via HTTP and stored to the user's local storage medium 4255.
  • Connection 4245 may be a wireless connection, such as, without limitation, a WiFi® link,
  • Bee Data Visualizer Server 4240 can be a software component that creates graphs of the bee colony strength data, such temperature vs. time, relative humidity vs. time, light intensity vs. time, sound vs. time, CO2 content vs. time, honey weight versus time, and colony weight vs. time, among other measurements.
  • a user using a standard web browser on smart device 4250 can request this information and have the bee data graphs displayed in their web browser 4260.
  • Bee Data Visualizer Server 4240 can be a software component that resides on the single board computer 4225. In selected cases, Bee Data Visualizer Server 4240 resides on a portable smart device 4250, for example as found installed into some mobile telephones, due to power requirements that could drain power resources of single board computer 4225 if run on solar or battery power at the beehive. In addition, in remote areas where bee hives are usually set, Internet capability can be limited or non-existent. To ensure data gets published, it is recommended Bee Data Visualizer Server 4240 reside on an external medium, such as smart device 4250. Bee Data Visualizer Server 4240 allows users to view and publish their bee data to the World Wide Web 4275. This software component is scalable, such that individual bee data files can be uploaded to Server 4230, and multiple bee data for graphs can be published.
  • present embodiments compare the calculated bee colony strength and honey productivity, determined by the software as a measure of the strength of honeybee colonies based on the phototreatment within beehives.
  • the carbon dioxide levels, colony weight, and hive light levels can be used to evaluate the synergistic interaction of phototreatment combined with dietary fullerol supplements as these conditions impact colony strength, to compare with manually generated data that can also be determined by the protocol in Keith S Delaplane, et al.,“Standard methods for estimating strength parameters of Apis mellifera colonies,” Journal of Apicultural Research, 52:1, 1-12, (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.3896/IBRA.1.52.1.03, which hereby is

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Abstract

Un compartiment d'insectes pollinisateurs selon l'invention présente une paroi transparente à la fréquence de lumière thérapeutique administrée à un insecte pollinisateur à l'intérieur du compartiment. La ruche comprend une boîte supérieure, une boîte inférieure et une boîte de ruche intermédiaire. La lumière de la boîte supérieure est de couleur verte, la lumière de la boîte inférieure est de couleur rouge ou infrarouge, et la lumière de la boîte intermédiaire est de couleur jaune ou orange. Un photosensibilisant artificiel, le fuliérol-8 [C60(OH)8] effectue une photolyse chez les abeilles en présence d'une lumière thérapeutique. L'invention comporte un module d'acquisition de données couplé à une balance de ruche sous la ruche ; un capteur de CO2 dans la boîte inférieure ; un capteur d'humidité relative ; un module de capteur de lumière détectant une luminosité interne et externe ; un capteur de température détectant des températures interne et externe ; un capteur de son ; un module de communication ; un ordinateur et un module d'alimentation. L'invention concerne également des procédés de synthèse de fullérol-8, et de préparation d'un médicament à base de fullérol-8.
PCT/US2018/020974 2017-03-06 2018-03-05 Appareil, procédés et médicaments pour le traitement d'insectes pollinisateurs WO2018165051A1 (fr)

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US20180338476A1 (en) * 2017-05-24 2018-11-29 Michael S. Richardson Beehive Pest Control Assembly
US20210246233A1 (en) * 2018-09-14 2021-08-12 Lg Chem, Ltd. Photopolymerization Reaction System Including Air Injection Module for Preventing Contamination of Ultraviolet-Transmitting Plate
US20220245937A1 (en) * 2019-02-01 2022-08-04 The Bee Corp Systems and methods for measuring beehive strength
EP3917315A4 (fr) * 2019-02-01 2022-10-19 The Bee Corp Systèmes et procédés de mesure de la résistance de ruches
US11849705B2 (en) * 2019-02-01 2023-12-26 The Bee Corp Systems and methods for measuring beehive strength
WO2020210739A1 (fr) * 2019-04-10 2020-10-15 HiveTech Solutions LLC Système de rucher commandé en intérieur mobile
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GB2603069B (en) * 2019-09-06 2024-02-14 Univ Arizona Compositions and methods for cognitive protection of pollinators against pesticides
WO2021046388A1 (fr) * 2019-09-06 2021-03-11 Arizona Board Of Regents On Behalf Of The University Of Arizona Compositions et méthodes de protection cognitive de pollinisateurs contre des pesticides
WO2021112689A1 (fr) * 2019-12-06 2021-06-10 Beefutures As Système et procédé de traitement par la lumière d'insectes pollinisateurs
NO20191451A1 (en) * 2019-12-06 2021-06-07 Beefutures Holding As A system and method for light treatment of pollinating insects
NO346801B1 (en) * 2019-12-06 2023-01-16 Beefutures Holding As A system and method for light treatment of pollinating insects
WO2021136832A1 (fr) 2020-01-02 2021-07-08 Strip's D.O.O. Balance de ruche, dispositif de commande d'apiculture, rucher et système de commande d'apiculture
DE102020100021B4 (de) 2020-01-02 2023-05-04 Strip's D.O.O. Bienenstockwaage, Steuergerät für die Bienenzucht, Steuerungssystem für einen Bienenstand und die Bienenzucht
DE102020100021A1 (de) * 2020-01-02 2021-07-08 Strip's D.O.O. Bienenstockwaage, Steuergerät für die Bienenzucht, Steuerungssystem für einen Bienenstand und die Bienenzucht
WO2022162194A1 (fr) * 2021-01-28 2022-08-04 Surface Composee Production Et Assemblage Partition pour ruche
FR3119080A1 (fr) * 2021-01-28 2022-07-29 Surface Composee Production Et Assemblage Partition rayonnante pour ruche
NO20210708A1 (en) * 2021-06-04 2022-12-05 Beefutures Holding As A system and method for light treatment of pollinating insects
NO20210713A1 (en) * 2021-06-04 2022-12-05 Beefutures Holding As Method and system for photobiomodulation of pollinating insects in a hive
WO2022255881A1 (fr) * 2021-06-04 2022-12-08 Beefutures Holding As Procédé et système de photobiomodulation d'insectes pollinisateurs dans une ruche
WO2022255882A1 (fr) * 2021-06-04 2022-12-08 Beefutures Holding As Système et procédé pour le traitement lumineux d'insectes pollinisateurs
NO347053B1 (en) * 2021-06-04 2023-05-02 Beefutures Holding As A system and method for light treatment of pollinating insects
NO347482B1 (en) * 2021-06-04 2023-11-20 Beefutures Holding As Method and system for photobiomodulation of pollinating insects in a hive
CN114176046A (zh) * 2021-12-07 2022-03-15 广东省农业科学院植物保护研究所 一种荔枝蒂蛀虫感光行为测定的系统

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