Project description
A heat device for keeping bees healthy
Honeybees are threatened by varroa mites and varroosis which cause significant losses to bee colonies. The chemical strategies currently employed to fight varroa mites are carcinogenic, ineffective and leave residues in the bee products used for human consumption. To address this problem, the EU-funded WarmHive project proposes thermotherapy, the application of heat to get rid of dangerous chemical products and kill varroa mites. The WarmHive team has designed a solution that fits on the roof of a beehive and automatically applies heat without overheating the bees or affecting the structure of the comb or the consistency of the honey. WarmHive's aim is a cost-effective and accessible device for every beekeeper and every hive.
Objective
Honeybees are dying massively worldwide. Bee colonies became a research aim, because of massive loss and lots of diseases kill them, especially varroa mite virus and varroosis, which causes also lots of other diseases. So far, varroa can be fight with chemicals (some of them are suspected of being carcinogenic), which are expensive and not effective as should (some of them around 60%), as well as leave residues in the bee products, which we all eat. One of the most promising and natural therapies to varroa mite is thermotherapy with simple heat. The therapy can get rid of dangerous chemical products and kill varroa definitively. There are systems and all hives which are gaining prominence. However, end users are still concerned behind the warming up and overheating the bees, melting the comb or honey or even become soft enough that the sheer weight would cause damage to the comb construction, as well as the pricing as this technology involves at present. WarmHive is an universal solution applicable to any type of hive designed to not require any manual application and it does not need a beekeeper to look after the process as it is in other varroa mite thermotherapy solutions. The special design of our unique bees thermotherapy solution integrates all the required hardware, including security elements, memories, etc. into a hive roof construction, with no constant electricity supply required. What even more important, we make it this technology available for a typical beekeeper because of its price. The aim of the project is to create a cost-effective and accessible device for every beekeeper and for his every hive, a solution for the removal of the varroosis and thanks to that safe the natural bee pollination and beekeepers market, in the same time to maximize the business opportunity in the bee market. Our market road of WarmHive will conduct a feasibility study (Phase 1) with a duration of 6 months. Technical and commercial steps will be taken in Phase 2.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
Poland