Progress 07/01/15 to 02/29/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The goal of the project was to test the viability of the technology behind the MiteNot product. Of our initial list of target audiences (United State and European beekeepers, university and private researchers, and the public) we were able to reach entomologists at the University of Minnesota and the Institute Nacional de Technologia Agropecuaria in Argentina. We established a working and collaborative relationship with Dr. Marla Spivak and post-doc Michael Goblirsch; we provided the prototypes as well as the orientation on running the product, and they shared the results from their research regarding the use of the prototypes. We were also able to connect with the Institute Nacional de Technologia Agropecuaria (through Dr. Spivak) and send staff members along with MiteNot prototypes to Argentina to continue testing using their bee hives when the bee season in the United States ended for the year. We were able to present our research with the MiteNot through the NIFA SBIR Phase I grant at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA and had an audience of roughly 50 attendees. The presentation was open to all World Ag Expo attendees and gave an overview of the detrimental effect that significant hive losses will have on pollinator-dependent crops and global food production as a whole in addition to the current efforts being made by Eltopia Communications to protect the honeybees. This presentation was beneficial in educating the public in the role that pollination plays in crop growth and was an opportunity to advocate for the MiteNot. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Most of the technical expertise needed for this project was self-taught. Richard de Leon, the main engineer in charge of the product design and functionality, did take a trip out to Georgie in the spring of 2015 (before the Phase I award's performance period) to visit Don Kuchenmeister, a commercial honeybee breeder in North Georgia with a successful Youtube channel. He conducts training classes and produces a premium small cell, organic bee. During the visit to see Don's operation, Richard was able to learn how to use a wax roller; the technique of hand-rolling the foundation wax is still presently being used in Eltopia's lab for any new prototypes that Richard makes. Dr. Spivak also served as an advisor and sounding board when the project director/managers had questions about experimental beekeeping procedures and mite behavior. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Will MacHugh, Project Director, presented at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California to approximately 50 attendees as part of their seminar program. The World Ag Expo seminar program is geared towards industry professionals as well as those new to agriculture. Attendees learn about the latest tips to customize his or her operation and increase efficiency, and speakers are given the opportunity to educate the public about agriculture. Will spoke about Eltopia Communications' MiteNot project with the NIFA SBIR program, the honey bee crisis, and the vision of the MiteNot as a new form of heat treatment. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Varroa mite is a parasite linked to several viruses that affect the immune response of honey beesandis a large contributing factor to the large colony losses being reported in North America (Genersch 2010, Shen et al. 2005). The most common form of treatment for mite infestations in beehives is chemical. The hard pesticides have the highest efficacy rate but also have the strongest disadvantages such as honey and bee product pollution, mite resistance to treatment after consistent use, and toxicity to the honey bees themselves (Rosenkranz et al. 2009). Eltopia Communications submitted a Small Business Innovation Research proposal to provide beekeepers with a reliable heat treatment to destroy Varroa mites without harming bees or leaving toxicresidues in honey and other bee products. Eltopia engineers were able to create a prototype of a heating board embedded in a comb foundation and is capable of being easily monitored and controlled by the beekeeper. The working prototype heats up to a specified temperature and has been built on successfully by honeybees when placed in field research hives. Since the completion of Phase I, we have partnered with Bee Ethic, a company based in Italy with a similar project. They have shared their product design and results which we are adopting for our next wave of research tests during the 2016-2018 bee seasons. GOAL 1 and 2: Field test the compostable, intelligent foundation (circuit) board for mass production that heat up to 100°C without shrinking. MiteNot consists of a foundation (circuit board) made of compostable corn productwith eco-friendly inkthat uses a solar powered 12 volt system to sterilize Varroa mites while they are in the drone bood cellswithout harming the drone or affecting its sperm viability. We are aiming at a price of $25.00 per unit. Field testing will be complete November 30, 2015.RESULTS: Eltopia found a multilayered sheet that can handle higher temperatures without shrinking more than 1% in both directions. Compostable films (PLA) were placed in hives February 2015, under the direction of the Dr. Marla Spivak, MacArthur Fellow and Distinguished McKnight Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota, to determine if bees would build honeycomb on the foundations or avoid the frames. After several months, the compostable frames where removed and compared to the control frames which were made from standard polyester plastic (PET). The compostable materials started to decompose prematurely causing the materials from the ink to end up in the wax and honey attached to the film, proven by GCMS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry testing). As such,the PLA material was not a viable option.Eltopia has determined a breakdown of expected costs to produce the MiteNot. The total estimate is $15 for a set of 10 ($3.50 for plastic frames, $10 for ink, and $1.50 for connectors), $10 less than our original estimate. We have adopted a simpler heating design, based on the shared design from Bee Ethic, which has lowered our expected costs. GOAL 3. Shrink production costs of the eco-friendly Intelligent Foundation boards in preparation for mass production.RESULTS: After conversations with our manufacturers, mass production guidelines, procedures, testing standards, and test runs were put into place September of 2015. During production, suppliers tell us, costs will decrease exponentially because supplies will be purchased and manufactured in bulk. GOAL 4. Test foundation board and heating elements to determine average lifespan. We will begin field testing in May 2015.RESULTS: This is an ongoing process as we have PETfilms out in natural environments that are still in an operational and safe state and a few PLA films still installed in remote colonies to see what further deterioration results are (see objective 1). The eight-month performance period limited how long we could observe the long-term life of our films. GOAL 5. Eltopia will fully develop application of bees wax to the film and get proper adhesion and thickness.RESULTS: Methods were developed for both a mass produced, roll-fed application of wax to the film and a hand-fed application for individual sheets. We found a PET (standard polyester plastic) laminate for our films that allows for a sufficient adhesion of wax and does not produce any chemical off-gassing that deters the bees from building on it. GOAL 6. Every film on every intelligent board will be given its own serial number and current flow assigned so if problems are detected by a beekeeper, Eltopia can monitor and fix the problem.RESULTS: Our Contract Manufacturer explained how difficult and costly it would be to manually print a number on each film. Our second solution was to match individual ID numbers to the ink's resistance values for each of the 32 heating elements on the film. We found the conductive inks change resistance values slightly over time. Although this change is very small, it is enough to cause each film's serial number to change 2 - 3 times over a given year making the use of ID numbers impractical. Our third approach was to use the unique identifier of the controller (the software device that commands the film's heating elements) as a serial number and compare it to records of films shipped.Even with a feasible solution, we were able to simplify the design even more by removing the controller completely from the prototype. A few of our objectives (specifically Objectives 6, 7, and 10) are no long applicable due to the simplification of the MiteNot system. GOAL 7. Eliminate the need for mechanical connectors on the intelligent foundation boards by July 2016.RESULTS: We were able to create a design with an embedded connector, although once we removed the need for a controller (as mentioned in the results for Goal 6), we no longer needed the connector. GOAL 8. Test wax from suppliers and specify a toxic-free, bleach-free, contaminant-free, wax to coat the intelligent foundation boards. We are aiming for July 2015 to have that accomplished.RESULTS: Zenith Supplies in Seattle is an importer of known, clean Chinese beeswax,is certified clean, and doesn't have any toxic chemicals that releases as it burns.We put the beeswax-coatedframes in beehives in Seattle, Minnesota, and Argentina whichwere successfully built on with no adverse effects on the honey bees. GOAL 9. Have 2,000 to 3,000 intelligent frames produced and ready for the printed circuits and wax for field testing by May 2015.RESULTS: We did not produce 2,000 to 3,000 frames. We only produced the amount we needed in order to test the prototypes. GOAL 10. Determine the correct temperature settings to sterilize Varroa mites, without harming drones or their sperm viability.RESULTS: Lab testswere conducted using known temperatures and times from published studies. These tests were conducted on mites outside of comb cells and without drones or larvae. The mites were exposed to direct heat for 2 minutes with a mortality rate of 50% and higher for adult female mites exposed to 43°C or greater.However, no evidence of female mite sterilization was proven using our initial film design with a grid of 32 separated heated sections in the research hives. We noticed mites exhibiting thermotaxi behavior where they would travel inside the honeycomb cell away from the heat emanating from the film and survive the heat treatment.The field studies did not advance to examining drone health because there was little to no effect on mite sterilization and mortality.Since then, we have simplified the design of the heating element and intend on replacing the whole hive with modified frames rather than replacing only one frame in the hive. The theory behind that change is that by heating the whole hive, rather than one frame, the mites will be unable to find a cool spot in the cell and escape to during the treatment. This hypothesis will be tested during the 2016 bee season.
Publications
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