Hive feed apparatus and method
AssigneeFormtech Plastics Inc.
InventorRalph Steven Hahn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An insert plate for a bee hive feeding pan fits into a feeding pan that has a tower portion through which bees enter the pan. The insert plate includes: a main body constructed of a material floatable on water and including an edge positionable adjacent the tower portion, and a gasket portion coupled to the main body extending away from the edge and being flexible, wherein the gasket portion is configured to bridge a gap between the edge and the tower portion when the insert plate is floating on liquid in the bee hive feeding pan. The insert plate increases the area from which the bees can feed at the surface level of the food and the gasket portion acts as a bridge to facilitate passage of the bees from the tower portion to the insert plate.
Claims3
A bee hive feed apparatus, comprising:
- a pan, including
- side wall and a floor, defining a reservoir, and
- a tower portion extending upwardly from the floor, the tower portion having an aperture permitting access from beneath the pan to the reservoir, wherein the tower portion has a position centrally on the floor spaced from the side wall;
- and
- an insert plate including
- a main body constructed of a material floatable on water and including a hole in the main body sized to fit over the tower portion, the hole defined within an edge and the insert plate configured to be positioned directly adjacent to and surrounding the tower portion and free to ride up and down along the tower portion with changing water levels within the pan.
A method for feeding a bee hive, comprising:
- installing a pan on a surface open to the bee hive, the pan including:
- a side wall and a floor, defining a reservoir, and
- a tower portion extending upwardly from the floor, wherein the tower portion has a position centrally on the floor spaced from the side wall, the tower portion having an aperture permitting access from beneath the pan to the reservoir;
- filling the pan with liquid feed;
- and
- installing an insert plate into the pan, the insert plate comprising:
- a main body constructed of a material floatable on the liquid feed and including a hole in the main body sized to fit over the tower portion, the hole defined within an edge positioned adjacent to and surrounding the tower portion;
- and
- leaving the insert plate within the pan floating on the liquid feed in the pan, wherein the insert plate rides up and down along the tower portion and presents a platform on which bees from the bee hive can feed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.