BACKGROUND RESEARCH

To better understand the context of the problem to solve, we conducted Background Research on the following topics[nv1] :

Bee behavior

Honeybees develop through 4 life stages consisting of: egg, larva, pupa then adult. Depending on the age of a bee, different task will be assigned in order to survive. Task can be related to building a nest, collecting food, and brood rearing. Honeybees are the few insects that have a social structure that consist of a single reproductive queen, numerous males (drones) depending on the season, and almost 60,000 worker bees (non-productive female bees.

In a colony there is only one queen bee, which is the largest bee that can be almost twice the size of a regular bee. The queen bee is responsible for reproducing and producing a chemical scent to regulate unity. However, if the queen bee dies or reproduction is slowed a queen bee can be replaced to keep the colony large and maintain a good production of honey.

The queen bases her fertilization decisions upon the size of the cell built by the workers, which can determine the hive’s need for each caste. Drone cells are usually larger leading the queen to lay unfertilized eggs. In addition, drones don’t have fathers since they come from unfertilized eggs. Drones usually hatch after 24 days as a pupa. Drone bees (male bees) primary focus is to mate with the queen bee. They wait above ground in the DCA (Drone Congregation Areas), and when the queen bee is detected, there is a mating chance. During mating activity, thousands of bees will compete to mate with the queen. Instead of fighting, the bees see who can fly closest to successfully mate with the queen. Drones are not very useful outside of mating. Their main function is to broaden the gene pool that comes from mating with the queen. In addition, seeing drones outside of a hive is a sign that swarm season has begun and can lead the queen bee to leave the hive to start a family. Drone bees are considerably easy to spot due to their unique appearance. Drone bees are usually as heavy as a queen bee because it is bulkier due to including a thick abdomen, box shape stomach, round head, and long legs. Drones usually die after mating however, there is a possibility that the bee is kicked out by worker bees and eventually starve and die.

In order to keep the beehive running the colony contains worker bees. All worker bees are females and depending on her age they will be assigned different roles. The younger bees are nursing that nurture and feed bee larvae. In addition, they take on the job of processing incoming nectar, feeding the queen, as well as making and capping honey. On the other hand, older bees leave the hive to collect the necessary resources to help the colony survive. Their job is dangerous and tiring since they work from sunrise to sunset. The worker bees are the smallest of the honeybees and a mixture of the queen and drone. They are similar to all bees except for their hypopharyngeal gland which is used to feed the larvae, queen and drones. Moreover, they have a long tongue that is used to suck the nectar out of flowers. Worker bees are unable to fertilize eggs but, lay unfertilized eggs which produce drones. Worker bees begin as a fertilized egg laid by the queen and will take about 21 days to hatch. After hatching the bees are put straight to work. For 3-16 days their job is to remove bees or larvae that have died within the hive to avoid diseases arising in the hive. Also, for 4-12 days the worker bees oversee feeding the drones until they can feed themselves. Moreover, for 7-12 days the worker bees will take care of the queen by feeding and grooming her. More importantly they Queen Mandibular Pheromone throughout the hive as a signal to the rest of the bees that the hive still has a viable bee. For 12-18 days the foraging bees brin pollen back to the hive to store it in a cell. The pollen will be mixed with a little honey to avoid spoiling and eventually fed to the broods. Then, for 12-35 days the bees have the task of taking honey and drying it to the appropriate water content to cap it. Using the wax glands in their abdomen that produces sheets of wax which are used to cap the honey. Within the same day range honeycomb building is also assigned that can produce their own wax but the builders of honeycomb will receive wax from another bee and begin building more honeycomb. From 12-18 days worker bees fan the hive with their wings, using evaporated water to help the hive stay cool. Helping the fanning workers are water carriers, which carry water to the fanning bees in order to help with cooling the hive. For 18-21 days there is an assignment of guard bees that hover at the entrance of the hive to protect it from unwanted visitors. The number of guard bees vary throughout the season. Finally, within the days of 22-42 there are foraging bees that gather food for the hive and travel within a 5-mile radius to collect pollen, nectar and propolis for the hive. Between 4 and 12 days of the workers bee’s life it interacts heavily with the queen and nurses the baby bees.

The reaction of bees also differs depending on the current season which changes between spring, summer, fall, and winter. During the spring when days are longer and sources of pollen and nectar increase, the queen begins to lay eggs. In doing so, the colony population increases significantly in both workers and foragers. In addition, there is a surplus collection of pollen and nectar stored to maintain brood rearing. During summer, the day is the longest allowing bees to forage for an extended period to store pollen and nectar. Usually, the colony reaches peak population in the early summer. Then in the fall hive population decreases significantly due to the reduced amount of nectar and pollen collected. Moreover, the proportion of old bees in the colony decreases and is dependent on the age, health, and fecundity of the queen. Finally, when winter begins the bees will cluster around the eggs, larvae, and pupae and keep them warm through heat generated by the bees.

The main type of honeybees located in south Texas is the Africanized Honeybees also known as “Killer Bees”. The African bee first appeared in Texas in 1990 and since spread throughout Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, California, Nevada, and Utah. Africanized honeybees are displacing European genotypes as seen in Latin America; however, the spread is slower and more erratic. This was due to their limited winter survivability, however they adapted to southern regions of United States allowing them to survive in tropical climates. Although they African Honeybees don’t need to worry about winter, they are limited to by rainfall and floral availability. Due to the environment, they build smaller nests, do not store large amounts of honey, are sensitive to cold, and migrate to fine a new home when floral resources diminish. One downside of Africanized honeybees is that they are very defensive. Africanized honeybees are more rapid, intense, and involves a greater proportion of the colony population. These honeybees have a lower threshold for defensive response and react more intensely, faster and in large numbers. When comparing Africanized bees to European bees, when provided the same stimuli, the Africanized honeybees sting 4 to 10 times more and pursue with 10 to 30 times more bees. The reason behind the intense response is may be due to the greater alarm pheromone release. If has been found that 9 of 12 alarm chemical components were stronger in Africanized bees than European bees. The alarm pheromone also causes the African Honeybees to heavily guard their nest. Guarding is a distinct worker defensive task, where bees pursue and sting intruders. The main purpose of guarding is to defend against robbing, identifying, and removing intruders. Africanized honeybees are more likely to fly out and sting when disturbing the nest. Any of the worker bees will attack even if they are foragers with pollen loads. Living with Africanized honeybees requires caution and diligence, but not alarm. Sensationalist news accounts of “killer bees” have mostly been over-blown, but the risk of unsuspecting or unwitting people and animals is still possible. The bees will only sting to defend, however if Africanized bees are spotted it best to escape and seek shelter. Do not go into a body of water as the bees will wait for you to surface and do not swat the bees or attempt any other defense. When shelter is found remove the stingers and observe for any reactions, if there are no reactions there will be minor pain and swelling which will go away in a few hours. It is best to contact the local extension office or a pest-control company to safely get rid of the bees. In order to avoid swarming of Africanized bees clear all debris and close any opening greater than 1/8 inch. That small hole can lead to the beginning of swarming which peaks between May and June. In addition, the Africanized bees have had a less severe effect on the economy than was anticipated. This was due to the slow spread and lessons learned from experiences in Latin America. It was observed that Africanized bees were considered unworkable in United States agricultural practices. There are some suspected beneficial characteristics of Africanized bees such as the reduction of mites, some bacterial diseases, and pesticides. These differences in Africanized Honeybees have led beekeepers to change how they would maintain their farms. One thing that remains the same is the fact that queen European Honeybees are still required to maintain the population in the farm.

Importance of Beehive Weight

Weight is defined as a body’s relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force; in science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Weight is usually measured using an instrument such as a balance or scale, in which the object that is being weighed is placed on top of the instrument. The weight of the object then pushes down on the apparatus, where the pressure sensors located inside are subjected to this force and output the weight as a digital readout. The measurement obtained can be used to gain information on the object being weighed; in our case using a scale to weigh the beehive can help identify crucial information about the hive while keeping the bees calm and at ease.

Why is weighing your beehive important? The simplest answer is that it is an excellent and unobtrusive way to monitor how your bees are doing. As a beekeeper, it is your duty to monitor your hive constantly, however bees, like humans, need their space too. It is hard to imagine bees acting kindly to someone who is constantly opening their hive/home, especially if its every day. It is true that honeybee’s aggressive behavior is a part of the cyclic nature of some colonies, however it must be taken into consideration that honeybees are not the only creatures preparing for winter. Bee colonies may be attacked by other animals such as bears, skunks, etc. therefore regular visits by any creature, including a beekeeper, could make honeybees more aggressive.

In addition, weighing your beehive should help you keep track of the amount of honey that is being produced, as well as help you identify when your hive is experiencing a honey flow. A honey flow occurs when one or more abundant sources of nectar are available, along with suitable weather, allowing bees to dramatically accelerate the creation of honey within the hive. The acceleration in creation leads to a rapid increase in the amount of honey that needs to be stored. During a honey flow, an increase of 5lbs. or more of honey for a single hive in a single day is completely obtainable. By having access to the weight of your hives, a honey flow can be spotted and dealt with immediately. Beekeepers should realize that a honey flow can bring up issues such as overcrowding of the hive. If the hive is experiencing an increase in several pounds of new honey per day, this could leave the hive with limited space, which can influence the bee’s thoughts of leaving for more space or swarming. A beekeeper who weighs their hives can spot this occurrence and decide to either add more boxes to expand the hive, or to extract the honey supply that is being continuously renewed.

If weight is observed efficiently, a beekeeper can also notice other factors such as decreases in weight due to the bees consuming the honey supply and if the colony has swarmed. Honeybees eat their own honey for numerous reasons such as feeding drones, refueling workers, producing heat, and making beeswax. If left unchecked, the bees will begin to eat much of the honey that a beekeeper is hoping to harvest. By having the ability to constantly read your hives weight, a beekeeper can see the decrease in weight and physically check on their honey supply and determine whether to harvest the honey or not. A decrease in weight can also signify if a colony has swarmed. A swarm is when a colony divides and casts a “swarm” that leaves the hive with the queen and about half of the workers. Swarming occurs when there is an abundance of food in the hive and when there is a high number of workers, for both contribute to overcrowding. The potential of a swarm can be identified early on by observing the weight of the hive and calculating whether the weight matches that of a healthy and abundant colony. In addition, a massive decrease in weight can help a beekeeper realize the colony has already swarmed, and measures can then be taken into place to search and recover the cluster of bees.

Selection of Materials

In many industries, it is not uncommon that bad material selection leads to failures of the products being manufactured. To ensure long term success of engineering applications, the material selection process must be taken with upmost importance. When designing a product, engineers use their knowledge of material properties to select the correct material(s) for the application in which the engineered part is to be used for. Some common mechanical and physical properties that engineers consider in selecting materials include tensile strength, ductility, conductivity, hardness, and corrosion resistance to name a few. Material property data sheets can be useful in providing insight on which materials could be useful. However, depending on the working environment and behavior, different outcomes may occur than from what is expected. No matter how great the design, the actual working environment can cause the product to fail. For example, weighing scales that are designed to weigh people of all ages could be subjected to a higher load than was ever expected. In this case, the scale could only survive if the engineer who designed it predicted that this could happen, therefore selecting a material with enough strength and creep resistance that can handle this possible condition. Again, material selection is very important to make sure the product being designed performs well in all situations, even unpredictable ones. However, engineers also take into consideration the cost of these materials. When comparing materials, the one with better material properties is the also the more expensive option. Thus, the introduction of cost-efficiency in the selection process. Cost efficiency is a description of the material/product where the values of cost in comparison to effectiveness are weighed. Engineers are ready to sacrifice using a material that is not the strongest available, if it means selecting one that will ensure the design will have the same probability of succeeding at a much lower cost. All of this must be taken into consideration to ensure a better probability of succeeding and obtaining desired properties.

What type of weighing device works best for our specific needs?

Given the specifications of the project, the most efficient way of measuring the weight of the beehives is to do so by using a floor scale. This type of scale has the characteristics required to measure the weight of the beehives since these are always fixed on the floor. The floor scale would allow for the beehive to be always positioned on top of the scale without the need of loading and unloading the beehive every time its weight is to be measured.

Current floor scales feature durable characteristics that are in alignment with the desired characteristics for the project. Certain modifications can be done to current designs as an attempt to reduce cost of production and therefore make the product cost efficient. One of the primarily used materials for this type of scales is stainless steel which is an ideal material for the desired activities required in this project. However, the introduction of another material such as aluminum or different variations of steel alloys would represent a lower cost of production of the product, and it would allow for a lower retail cost.

Additionally, certain additions can be made to the existing concept of a floor scale so that the product can measure other parameters that are crucial to the development and preservation of the bees inside the beehives. The use of sensors of different kinds may represent a valuable addition to the scale. Some of these sensors may include temperature sensors, infrared sensors to detect the motion of bees, sound sensors to monitor bee’s activity, humidity sensors, etc. The use of all these sensors would be beneficial for a more in-depth analysis of the behavior of the bees inside the beehive.

Another technical addition that must be attached to the device is the use of a network that can enable the beekeepers to access the information obtained by the scale on a real time basis. This feature of the product must be put in place to enhance the ease of use of the device. The implementation of such feature would allow the beekeepers to get access to essential information regarding the state of their beehives without having to be physically there. This notification system must be put in place considering some of the inherent problems related to the location of some of these bee farms. A considerable amount of bee farms is in rural areas or areas where internet access is not guaranteed. Therefore, an alternative to the use of a Wi-Fi network could be used depending on the needs of specific bee farms. Since the production of the scales cannot be personalized to satisfy individual needs, an alternative that fits most must be used to optimize the production of the device. Alternative options to the use of a Wi-Fi network may be Bluetooth, Infrared connection, Induction wireless, etc.

What are some regulations regarding beekeeping?

Current regulation regarding beekeeping and the production of honey varies from state to state in the United States. Most of the legislation in place involving bees focuses on the control existing bee population in the country and the introduction of new types of bees into the environment. These laws are put in place to prevent unbalancing the state of the ecosystem in which bees coexist alongside other species. Beekeeping is an activity that is not strongly regulated in some states and the primary regulations surrounding it are in place to prevent the spread of diseases around bees and their environment.

Activists’ groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advocate for the rights of honeybees and deem beekeeping and honey production in general as an unethical practice. The type of activism promoted by this group is focused on individual actions that would allow for a diminish in the consumption of honey. Therefore, most of the work focused on the honey industry is focused on lowering individual consumption of honey and it is currently not being actively persecuted from a legal standpoint.

Additional laws put in place in the United States are focused on interstate commerce involving bees and other species or subspecies. Similar to previously discussed regulations, these laws are put in place to prevent the introduction of a species or subspecies of bees into an environment which could be negatively affected by such introduction.

Organizations in favor of the rights of animals (bees included) focus their attention on some of the practices involved beekeeping as a whole since they consider they might be detrimental to the bee’s wellbeing. Their work focuses on pointing out certain practices that prevail in most bee farms that might be considered unnatural for bees and even affecting their health. The introduction of our product into the existing beehive technology is not affecting the wellbeing of the bees according to all the points mentioned by activist groups. Some of the concerns had by veterinarians and animal rights activists is that the way bees are kept inside the beehive produces certain stress on the bees and that results in a lower amount of honey produced as well as the deterioration of their health. One of the objectives of our project is that the product that we are introducing into the beehive is not invasive enough to disturb the bees and therefore cause any more strain into their health. The positioning of our device does not interfere with the bees and it is virtually non-invasive since the bees would not have any contact with it. The introduction of certain sensors could allow a detailed monitoring of the bees and therefore result in more efficient honey production processes that align with the vision of most animal rights activists and other interest groups that are stakeholders in the beekeeping industry.

Physical characteristics and properties of beehives

There are different varieties of beehive concepts and models. One of the most common models of beehives is the Langstroth beehive. This concept has been in use for many decades, and it is one of the preferred options used by most beekeepers. The Langstroth beehive is divided in three different sections that assess specific situations that enhance the honey production. The physical characteristics of this type of beehive allow for easy adaptation and modification of the beehive to attach more boxes to it and therefore increase its size.

Typical dimensions of the boxes in a Langstroth beehive are around 16 inches wide by 20 inches long and the depth of these boxes can vary depending on specifical needs between 6 and 10 inches. The boxes are mounted on the beehive and these beehives have configurations that feature 8 or 10 frames of boxes. The two different beehive compositions are used depending on the beekeepers’ wants and needs. The 10-framed Langstroth beehive design possesses higher honey production capability and as a result the weight of this type of beehive can be around 80 lbs. The 8-framed beehive design has the advantage that the weight of the beehive is considerably smaller at around 50 lbs. The weight of the beehives is a point of interest for both the beekeepers who must maneuver the beehives and us as developers of the scale to know the range of weights that we will be working on.

The materials used for the construction of commercially available Langstroth beehives include lumber as the main material for the construction of the beehive. This material is durable and sustainable and is relatively affordable for most. This material works fine with other potential materials used in the production of the scaling device and it would not pose any difficulties to the performance of our device and the device would not pose any difficulties on the beehive performance either. There are beehives that are made of different materials as well, and these can account for different weights, and further considerations would have to be taken to account for the difference in weight and the ability to work alongside the materials selected to produce the scale. After thorough investigation and reviewing these points with experts, proper considerations will be made to be able to manufacture a device that will work for most cases since individual adaptations are difficult to make.

How would the design of the product be any different from the competition?

Structural design of the product

Corrugation is a simple and very effective means to forming lightweight structures, while stable under bucking load and energy absorption features. Want to be able to carry large loads without failing or being susceptible to creep. Incorporating composite materials with the corrugating structure will help keep the cost of the product down.

The process involves adding two face sheets known as the upper and lower surface for the corrugated sheet. The structural characteristics of the corrugated structure do mostly depend on the corrugated core separating the face sheets in providing the appropriate stiffness.

The packing industry have extensively used this structure to produce rigid shipping containers of any shape and size. The design can withstand various loads especially static conditions. The main reason this corrugated structure has received big interest in the industry draws from their stiffness, durability, cost effectiveness, and light weight as well as sustainability for the environment.

Corrugated structures have made notable impacts on various engineering applications because of their advanced structural characteristics like their extreme anisotropic behavior and high stiffness to weight ratio. Corrugations have been widely implemented in I-beams. With a purpose to fight shear forces which is the primary cause of buckling in the I-beams.

Composite materials within the corrugated core help increase the design space of the corrugated panel. The corrugation geometrical design aids in the high strength to weight ratio. The sandwich panels allow it to be made of three different materials aluminum alloy, glass fiber reinforced plastic, and carbon fiber plastic.

Continuous fiber reinforced composite lightweight structures have many advantages including large stiffness to weight ratios, improved fatigue life, steadiness under a compressive load, while maintaining goof designability. These continuous fiber reinforced composites can be used across numerous engineering applications for structural, aerospace, ships, and high-speed trains. There is a new fabrication process using a pultrusion process and a snap fitting method to create carbon fiber reinforced sandwich composite pyramidal truss core.

The advancements in 3D printing technology grew quickly over the past couple of years having short production cycle, low cost, and a high degree of automation. This new unique manufacturing process could fabricate parts of various shapes allowing an expansion of design ideas to creating new structures and materials. In 3D printing the continuous fibers and thermoplastic filaments are used for reinforcing phase and matrix.

Load Cell in Scales

Based on the specifics on the project, a floor scale would be needed to weigh the beehives. A floor scale is ideal for measuring large loads that are too heavy to be lifted on my hand. Some floor scales are equipped with on and off ramps to allow for efficient loading and unloading. However, based on the design we currently desire, we are hoping to offer a scale that could stay directly under the beehive for several years.

Most common weighing systems have multiple load cells beneath each leg of device that the scale will be under. In our product, the load cells would be underneath the legs of the beehive. The load cells are attached to a base, and the signal from the cells is sent to summing box. The summing box sums the net signal from the two cells. This sum is fed to a meter, which displays the value of the weight.

The type of scale that will be used in the design is a digital scale. Typical components of a scale include the structure, weight indicator, load cell, and signal converter. Although there are some differences in scales, the basic component to measuring weight is the load cell. The load cell is a transducer, which is a device that converts force into a measurable electrical output. Strain gauge load cells are the most dominate type in weighing devices. This type of load cell is accurate and cost-effect. The strain gauge load cell is bonded onto a beam or structural member that deforms when weight is applied. This body is usually made of aluminum, alloy steel, or stainless steel, which makes the body sturdy and minimally elastic. When a load is applied, the body of the load cell will slightly deform. The body will return to its original shape as long it is not overloaded. As a result of the body shape, the load cell will also change. A strain gauge is a device that measures change in electrical resistances when a force is applied, and the strain gauge load cell converts this measurement. There are different types of strain gauges such as: linear and shear strain gauges. The linear strain gauges measure axial and bending strain while the shear strain gauge measure shear strain. More than one strain gauge is often used in order to increase accuracy. One strain gauge is referred as a quarter-bridge, two active strain gauges area half-bridge, and four active strain gauges are a full bridge. Although strain gauge load cells are the most common load cell in weighing system, we learned of temperature compensated load cells from one of our competitors, which was SolutionBee. As well, the Weight My Bees design concept discussed the need to compensate the temperature from the weight reading while. From these two designs, the team learned how temperature can affect weight readings. Since the product will be placed in outdoor conditions, the temperature can greatly influence the weight readings. As well, because the main function of our product is to offer a weight reading, we feel inclusion of this type of load cell is important. Although there are temperature compensated load cells, there are steps we can take to actively compensate the load cells. These steps can be similar to the steps the students took in Weight My Bees. In this project, the students used a thermistor as the selected form of temperate reading. With the thermistor temperature measurements, map changes in temperature to changes in the conversion coefficient, which is 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡= 𝐴𝐷𝐶 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 / 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 ×𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟. This will make the weight stay the same. Following this step, you need to analyze what conversion coefficient corresponds to what temperature, and this should offer an improvement in performance. Another alternative may be to consider the type of strain gauge used. The “right” choice may compensate largely for unwanted temperature effects. The choices include the limitations due to temperature, considering whether the Wheatstone bridge circuit half or full bridge, and computational methods. The main idea is we can take an alternate route to simply purchasing temperature compensated load. This could possibly reduce cost. Other parameters that may affect the accuracy of the load cell include nonlinearity, non-repeatability, hysteresis, creep, and response time. Environmental factors that may disrupt the scale readings includes shock loading, wind loading, vibration, unclean scales, and differences in air pressure.