Separating parasites from bees

#The invention relates generally to parasite control in bee hives, and more specifically, to a mechanical separator for the physical removal of parasites from bees.

#Bees, like most living organisms, are susceptible to a variety of parasites that may have harmful effects on colony development and productivity. These parasites may have a particularly detrimental impact for professional beekeepers, who depend on the production of honey from bees for their livelihood, and also for scientists, hobbyists, and others who study bee colonies. Known bee parasites include tracheal mites (acarapis woodi internus), tropilaelaps (tropilaelaps clareae), bee lice (braula coeca) and varroa mites (varroa jacpbsoni).

#One significant event affecting twentieth century beekeeping has been the spread of the parasitic varroa bee mite varroa jacobsoni, also known as varroa destructor. Varroa is thought to have originated in East Asia, but is now known to exist on all continents except Australia. Varroa was first detected in North America in 1987 and has spread to all regions of the continent except perhaps to the most isolated areas. The parasitic varroa mites spend their entire life cycle in a bee colony, and typically a varroa-infested colony will die within a few years of infestation, unless a beekeeper intervenes with an effective mite control method.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a separator constructed according to an embodiment of the invention.

#FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a loading apparatus which forms a part of a separator similar to the separator of FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is another schematic side elevational view of the separator of FIG. 1, depicting separation of parasites from bees.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a separator 10, which is configured to separate parasites from bees according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the depicted separator is useful in removing varroa mites from honeybees and honeybee hives. In FIG. 1, a side panel of separator 10 is removed, allowing inner portions of the separator to be seen. Such inner portions may include, for example, a bee containment chamber 12, one or more filtration screens 40, 96, an agitator 60, and a parasite containment chamber 100. Other components also may be employed, including mechanism useful in applying a release medium to the bees and collecting such release medium upon removing parasites from the bees.

#Focusing initially on bee containment chamber 12, and referring for this purpose to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be noted that containment chamber 12 may be an enclosure of sufficient capacity to contain an entire colony of bees, or any appropriate subset thereof. As shown, containment chamber 12 may include a plurality of walls 14, which define an upper opening 16 and a lower opening 17. A removable upper slide gate 18 may be configured to slide in and out of an upper slot 20 to selectively restrict upper opening 16. A similar removable lower slide gate 36 may be configured to slide in and out of a lower slot 38 to selectively restrict lower opening 17. Collectively, the walls and slide gates may be configured to define a closed body capable of containing bees which are to be treated. The slide gates may be manipulated to control downstream flow of the bees. Each slide gate thus may be equipped with one or more handles 22 whereby the slide gates may be readily retracted and deployed.

#Referring particularly to FIG. 2, it will be noted that upper opening 16 may be configured to receive an attachment that facilitates passage of bees through opening 16 and into bee containment chamber 12. One possible attachment is a funnel attachment 26. Funnel attachment 26 includes a substantially flat panel 28, and a rectangular funnel 30 that may be installed in an aperture 32 of flat panel 28. Aperture 32 may be sized to securely receive funnel 30, and panel 28 may be sized to fit securely within opening 16 so as to effectively close access to the bee containment chamber except through funnel 30.