Abstract:
In the prior art, the full honeycombs or the foundations are made with resin and the beekeeper sprays beeswax onto the honeycomb or the foundation in order to have the bees become attracted to the resin or high density polyethylene honeycomb or foundation. The present invention involves the concept of evenly coating the plastic resin pellets with hot melted beeswax so that the coated pellets have the beeswax admixed thereon. Therefore, at the time of the molding of the plastic pellets into a foundation, a foundation with border, or honeycomb, the final molded product will have the beeswax molded therein, so that the bees will automatically be attracted to the honeycomb or the foundation so that they can automatically place their honey into the honeycomb or build the honeycomb right onto the foundation and lay their eggs, raise their brood and deposit honey into the honeycomb. The present invention eliminates the requirement to spray a plastic molded product with beeswax to attract the bees since the beeswax is already molded into the final product.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to the field of artificial honeycombs and specifically relates to significant modifications and improvements to molded plastic honeycombs for use in replacing the existing wooden or plastic honeycombs presently in use. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Beekeeping is a very old art but only minor innovations have been made to increase honey production from bees. 
   The following five (5) patents are relevant to the field of the present invention. 
   1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,339 issued to Auston Roy Ellis on May 11, 1965 for “Artificial Honeycomb” (hereafter the “Ellis Patent”); 
   2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,045 issued to Matthias Schmidt on Jun. 1, 1982 for “Method And Apparatus For Economically Maintaining And Breeding Bees in A Bee Compound” (hereafter the “Schmidt Patent”); 
   3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,440 issued to Herbert Drapkin on Feb. 22, 1983 for “Honeycomb” (hereafter the “Drapkin Patent”); 
   4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,262 issued to Johann R. Stickler on Jul. 12, 1983 for “Apparatus For Breeding Queen Honeybees” (hereafter the “Stickler Patent”); 
   5. Japanese Application Patent No. JP2005058028 issued to Kumabe Masahiro on Mar. 10, 2005 for “Comb Foundation For Honeybee Made Of Paper, Comb Made Of Paper And Bee Hive Made Of Paper” (hereafter the “Masahiro Patent”). 
   The Ellis Patent discloses the creation of a honeycomb made entirely of wax which is made up of hexagonal cells adjoining one another on all sides of the hexagon which imitates a natural honeycomb. This invention is designed to have an entire honeycomb made completely of wax so that it supplements what was then the practice of just taking a common foundation made of wax and having the bees create the honeycomb. This invention created the honeycomb in order to eliminate the problem of the bees having to make the honeycomb on the foundation and therefore, waste honey and energy in making the honeycomb. However, the device made entirely out of beeswax was very soft and fragile. The soft beeswax honeycomb also came apart when the device was placed in a centrifuge to remove the honey from the honeycomb and therefore was not reusable. 
   The Schmidt Patent discloses a concept for more economically breading bees by creating a compound unit comprising a plurality of compartments that surround and are connected to a central assembly chamber associated with a feeding chamber. Each of the compounds is adapted to house a swarm of bees and one queen bee. Accordingly, bees in an individual compartment are only indirectly accessible to bees in another compartment through the central chamber and can move from one compartment to another only after congregating in the assembly chamber in order to gain access to the feeding chamber associated with the assembly chamber. The innovative concept of this invention is that with conventional wax coated plastic combs, wherein the sidewalls of the cells are of reduced height, bees initially build up the side walls with wax to their full height of the cell walls. Wax from the wax coating on conventional combs is utilized by the bees during this build-up, and the bees retain their own wax until swarming is possible. At that time, they use their own wax for building additional cells. 
   The Drapkin Patent was invented by the inventor of the present invention and was a significant improvement to beekeeping at the time by providing an artificial molded honeycomb structure which was an accurate simulation of a natural cell so that the bees did not have to spend honey and energy in building a honeycomb on a foundation but instead, since the honeycomb was created for them, upon spraying beeswax onto the honeycomb to attract the bees, the initial energy output from the bees was used entirely to lay eggs, raise their brood and deposit their honey into the formed honeycomb. The complete molded honeycomb as shown in FIG. 8 of this patent includes an array of hexagonal cells of full depth, at a proper angle and having the normal truncated bottom of a natural cell. The honeycomb therefore prevents waste since the honeycomb is almost a perfect simulation of a natural cell and the bee does not have to build up any wax foundation. 
   The Stickler Patent discloses an apparatus for breeding queen honeybees. The focus of the patent involves a breeding apparatus for honeybees comprising a breeding frame, a honeycomb cell plate affixed thereto and defining a multiplicity of open cells, a like multiplicity of sockets projecting from the rear face of the plate, the cells passing through the sockets, and cup-shaped elements detachably mounted on the sockets for closing the rear of the cells. 
   The Masahiro Patent is a Japanese patent that issued in March 2005. Specifically, the problem to be solved is to provide a comb foundation made of paper, a comb and a bee hive shipping honeybees for pollination early stages. The solution is to have the comb foundation for the honeybees made of paper which is obtained by forming comb cells from cells of a honey bee core or a roll core made of the paper and coated or impregnated with beeswax. The comb foundation made of the paper is characterized in that the comb foundation made of paper arranged in the interior of the square frame formed of the paper as a material with the cell opening surface transversely directed to the outside is fixed with an adhesive. 
   As disclosed above, molded plastic honeycombs for use with beekeeping are known in the prior art. In the prior art, the full honeycombs or the foundations are made with resin and the beekeeper sprays beeswax onto the honeycomb or the foundation in order to have the bees be attracted to the resin or high density polyethylene honeycomb or foundation. This is both time-consuming and expensive. There is a significant need for an improved molded resin foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb for use with beekeeping which eliminates the requirement to spray beeswax onto the device in order for bees to be attracted thereto so that they will lay their eggs, raise their brood and deposit their honey therein. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In the prior art, the full honeycombs or the foundations are made with resin or paper and the beekeeper sprays beeswax onto the honeycomb or the foundation in order to have the bees become attracted to the resin or high density polyethylene honeycomb or foundation. The present invention involves the concept of evenly coating the plastic resin pellets with hot melted beeswax so that the coated pellets have the beeswax admixed thereon. Therefore, at the time of the molding of the plastic pellets into a foundation, a foundation with border, or honeycomb, the final molded product will have the beeswax molded therein, so that the bees will automatically be attracted to the honeycomb or the foundation so that they can automatically place their honey into the honeycomb or build the honeycomb right onto the foundation and lay the honey into the honeycomb. The present invention eliminates the requirement to spray a plastic molded product with beeswax to attract the bees since the beeswax is already molded into the final product. 
   It has been discovered, according to the present invention, that if a slab of beeswax is melted so that it becomes liquid and the hot beeswax is thereafter forced into an applicator such as a glue gun, then the glue gun can be used to spray the hot melted beeswax onto resin pellets which are used to form a foundation, foundation with border or honeycomb. 
   It has further been discovered, according to the present invention, that if the resin pellets are placed into a tumbling device such as a cement mixer while they are being coated with hot melted beeswax, then the coating of hot melted beeswax on the pellets will be even and smooth so that the resin pellets will be evenly coated with beeswax. 
   It has additionally been discovered, according to the present invention, that if the resin pellets which are evenly coated with hot melted beeswax are thereafter caused to travel from the tumbling device to a tubular elongated barrel having a resin delivery screw which transports the beeswax coated resin pellets into the cavities of the mold after the mold has been closed, then when the cavities of the mold are fully filled with the beeswax coated resin pellets and the cavities of the mold are caused to form the foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb, the final formed foundation, foundation with border or honeycomb will be molded with the beeswax impregnated and admixed therein. As a result, the bees will be attracted to the final molded product and will thereafter when using a foundation create a honeycomb and deposit their eggs and honey in the formed honeycomb, and when using a fully formed honeycomb will directly lay their eggs and honey in the fully formed honeycomb, and the requirement to spray either the formed foundation or the fully formed honeycomb with beeswax to attract the bees is eliminated. 
   It is therefore an object of the present invention to take a slab of beeswax and melt it so that it becomes liquid and the hot beeswax is thereafter forced into an applicator such as a glue gun, so that the glue gun can be used to spray the hot melted beeswax onto resin pellets which are used to form a foundation, foundation with border or honeycomb. 
   It is a further object of the present invention to place the resin pellets into a tumbling device such as a cement mixer while they are being coated with hot melted beeswax, so that the coating of hot melted beeswax on the pellets will be even and smooth so that the resin pellets will be evenly coated with beeswax. 
   It is an additional object of the present invention, to cause the resin pellets which are evenly coated with hot melted beeswax to travel from the tumbling device to a tubular elongated barrel having a resin delivery screw which transports the beeswax coated resin pellets into the cavities of a mold after the mold has been closed, so that when the cavities of the mold are fully filled with the beeswax coated resin pellets and the cavities of the mold are caused to form the foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb, the final formed foundation, foundation with border or honeycomb will be molded with the beeswax impregnated and admixed therein. As a result, the bees will be attracted to the final molded product and will thereafter for a foundation will create a honeycomb and deposit eggs and honey in the formed honeycomb or for a formed honeycomb will directly lay their eggs and honey in the fully formed honeycomb, and the requirement to spray the foundation or the honeycomb with beeswax to attract the bees is eliminated. 
   Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustration only and not limitation, there is illustrated: 
       FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of the first steps of the present invention process which involves melting a slab of beeswax so that it becomes a liquid and thereafter forcing the melted beeswax into an applicator such as a glue gun; 
       FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of the next steps of the present invention process which involves placing the resin pellets used to form the foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb into a tumbling device such as a cement mixer and spraying hot melted beeswax from the glue gun onto the resin pellets while they are being tumbled to thereby provide a smooth even coating of beeswax on each resin pellet; 
       FIG. 1C  is a perspective view of the final steps of the present invention process which involves causing the beeswax coated resin pellets to go through a hopper and into an elongated tubular feed device which has a rotating feed screw therein which delivers the beeswax coated resin pellets into the cavities of a two part mold after the mold has been closed, which cavities have the shape of the foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb therein and causing the cavities of the mold to form the final foundation, foundation with border, or honeycomb with beeswax admixed and formed therein; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the final formed foundation with beeswax formed therein; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the final formed foundation with border with beeswax formed in the foundation; and 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the final formed honeycomb with beeswax formed therein. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Although specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that such embodiments are by way of example only and merely illustrative of but a small number of the many possible specific embodiments which can represent applications of the principles of the present invention. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the present invention as further defined in the appended claims. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1A , the first step in the present invention process is to obtain a slab of beeswax  10  which is its hardened state and place the slab of beeswax  10  into a receptacle  20  which has a source of heat  22  so that the beeswax is melted into a hot liquid state  12 . By way of example, the beeswax  12  can be melted at a temperature of approximate 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the beeswax  10  is melted into a hot liquid state  12 , it is then forced under pressure by a pump  24  through a conduit  26  from the heating receptacle or heated tank  20  through a conduit  26  into an applicator  30  which by way of example can be a glue gun. The applicator or glue gun  30  has a hot spray head  32  which is heated to ensure that the beeswax will not crystallize within the spray gun  30  but will flow through it like a liquid. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1B , the next step in the process is to place the plastic pellets  40  which will be used to form the molded foundation, foundation with border or honeycomb into a tumbling device  50  which by way of example can be a cement mixer. The pellets  40  can be resin, polyethylene, polyurethane, or any other hard high strength moldable plastic material. As the pellets  40  are being tumbled in the tumbler  50  the liquid melted hot beeswax  12  is sprayed onto the pellets  40  from the hot spray head  32  of the applicator  30  so that the hot liquid beeswax  12  is evenly coated onto the pellets  40 . By achieving the coating of hot liquid beeswax  12  with a spray rather than just dumping the pellets into molten hot beeswax, each pellet  40  is evenly coated with beeswax  12  while the pellets  40  are being tumbled. The preferred ratio of beeswax to pellets for a foundation is three (3) pounds of beeswax  12  to one-hundred (100) pounds of pellets  40 . The preferred ratio of beeswax to pellets for a full honeycomb is two (2) pounds of beeswax  12  to one-hundred (100) pounds of pellets  40 . 
   If the ratio of beeswax to pellets is higher, the strength and cohesiveness of the resin pellets will be adversely diluted. The present invention process requires as much strength as possible for the pellets while at the same time having sufficient impregnation of beeswax to attract bees to the finished product. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1C , after the pellets  40  are evenly coated with liquid beeswax  12 , they are then caused to travel from the tumbler  50  into an injection mold feeding means which by way of example can be a hopper  60  which has a throat  62  which leads to an elongated barrel  70  which has rotating delivery screw  74 . The beeswax coated pellets  42  enter the hopper  60  and are guided through the hopper&#39;s throat  62  into an opening  72  in the elongated barrel  70  so that the beeswax coated pellets  42  are moved longitudinally by the rotating delivery screw. At the remote end  76  of the elongated barrel  70 , the barrel  70  has an opening  78  which leads into an injection mold which by way of example can be two cavity mold  80  which has a first cavity  82  and second cavity  84 . The cavities of the mold  80  are formed in the shape of the desired product to be molded. After the mold  80  is closed, the beeswax coated pellets  42  are injected into the cavities  82  and  84  until the cavities are filled with the injection molded beeswax  42 . Then heat and pressure is applied into the mold so that the final molded product is formed. The two cavity halves  82  and  84  are then opened and the final molded product removed form the mold  80 . 
   As a result, because the beeswax  12  is coated onto the resin pellets  40  and the coated resin pellets  42  are an integral combination of resin  40  and beeswax  12 , when the molding takes place, the final molded product is molded with the beeswax being an integral part of the final molded product. 
   The present invention is used to mold three different types of products. Referring to  FIG. 2 , one product is a foundation  90  which is a flat piece of molded resin impregnated with beeswax with opposite parallel flat walls  92  and  94  having a multiplicity of openings  96  (openings in the other side  94  not shown) respectively formed within each respective flat wall  92  and  94 . The foundation  90  is placed into a beehive. Because the molded foundation  90  is impregnated with beeswax, the bees will automatically be attracted to the foundation  90  within a beehive. The bees will then form the honeycomb onto the respective multiplicity of openings  96  and (openings in other side  94  not shown) of the two walls  92  and  94  of the foundation  90  and thereafter, lay their eggs and honey within the formed honeycomb. One problem with just using a foundation is that the bees will expend a lot of energy and honey to make the honeycomb and only after the honeycomb is completed will the bees begin to lay their eggs and honey within the formed honeycomb. 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , a second embellished product which is formed by the present invention process is a foundation  100  with a molded border  110  which makes it easier to place the foundation with border into a beehive. The foundation  100  with molded border  110  is a flat piece of molded resin impregnated with beeswax with opposite parallel flat walls  102  and  104  having a multiplicity of openings  106  and (openings of the other side  104  not shown) respectively formed within each respective flat wall  102  and  104 . The border  110  surrounds the foundation  110  as illustrated. The border is also impregnated with beeswax and therefore, only coated pellets are also used to fill the portion of the cavities used to form the border. The foundation  100  with border  110  is placed into a beehive. Because the molded foundation  100  is impregnated with beeswax, the bees will automatically be attracted to the foundation  100  within a beehive. The bees will then form the honeycomb onto the respective multiplicity of openings  106  (openings of the other side  104  not shown) of the two walls  102  and  104  of the foundation  100  and thereafter, lay their eggs and honey within the formed honeycomb. One problem with just using a foundation even with a border is that the bees will expend a lot of energy and honey to make the honeycomb and only after the honeycomb is completed will the bees begin to lay their eggs and honey within the formed honeycomb. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , the third product which is formed by the present invention process is a honeycomb  120 . The physical characteristics of the honeycomb are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,440 issued to Herbert Drapkin on Feb. 22, 1983 for “Honeycomb”. Dr. Drapkin who was the inventor of the honeycomb patent in U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,440 is also the inventor of the present invention. The molded honeycomb  120  has two substantially identical half sections  122  and  132  each having a respective front face  124  with each front face including a plurality of regularly spaced hexagonally shaped cells sloping downward at an angle between 10 degrees and 15 degrees and preferably at 12.5 degrees which is substantially equal to the angle of a natural honeycomb cell, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,440. The molded resin honeycomb  120  is impregnated with beeswax so that the honeycomb cells on the outer walls  124  of the honeycomb are all impregnated with beeswax. 
   As a result, the bees will be automatically attracted to the honeycomb  120  and will lay their eggs and honey into the cells of the honeycomb  120 . The benefit of the molded honeycomb  120  is that the bees will not have to spend energy and honey to make a honeycomb since the honeycomb is already formed. Therefore, the molded honeycomb will result in the production of more eggs and honey in a far more rapid manner than just using a foundation. With the cells being at an angle, the honey will not fall out of the cells of the honeycomb but will remain in the cells of the honeycomb. 
   For the preferred resin  40  of the present invention, a 24 melt high density polyethylene is used. The preferred range of resin is 20 to 30 melt high density polyethylene. 
   The 24 melt is preferred as the finished product will not be too soft and will not be too brittle. 
   By using a high density polyethylene to form the honeycomb, the honeycomb can withstand higher centrifugal forces to remove the honey from the honeycomb. The honeycomb filled with honey is placed in a centrifuge and rotates at 1300 rpm to cause the honey to fly out of the honeycomb and onto the centrifuge walls where it drips down and is subsequently collected in a receiving tank. By being to rotate the honeycomb at this high rpm, it takes 30 second to extract the honey from a honeycomb. With conventional honeycombs entirely formed of beeswax, they can only be spun at a much lower rpm and it will take 30 minutes to extract the honey from the honeycomb. 
   Defined in detail, the present application is a process for forming a plastic product to be used in beekeeping, comprising: (a) obtaining a slab of beeswax which is in a hardened state and placing the slab of beeswax into a receptacle which has a source of heat so that the slab of beeswax is melted into a hot liquid state; (b) forcing the hot melted beeswax under pressure into an applicator which has a hot spray head so that the beeswax can be sprayed from the applicator and not crystallize in the applicator; (c) placing plastic pellets used to form the plastic product into a tumbling device and spraying the hot liquid beeswax from the applicator onto the pellets while the pellets are being tumbled so that the pellets are evenly coated with hot liquid beeswax; (d) closing a mold of an injection molding machine, the mold having cavities which are formed into a shape of a final finished plastic product and causing the hot liquid beeswax coated pellets to be placed into an injection molding feeding device which in turn causes the hot liquid beeswax coated pellets to be placed into cavities of the injection molding machine; and (e) opening the mold after a final finished product is formed wherein the final finished product is made of plastic impregnated throughout with beeswax. 
   Defined broadly, the present invention is a process for forming a plastic product to be used in beekeeping, comprising: (a) obtaining a slab of beeswax which is in a hardened state and melting the beeswax into a liquid state; (b) pouring the melted beeswax into an applicator; (c) placing plastic pellets used to form the plastic product into a tumbling device and spraying the beeswax from the applicator onto the pellets while the pellets are being tumbled so that the pellets are evenly coated with liquid beeswax; (d) closing a mold of an injection molding machine, the mold having cavities which are formed into a shape of a final finished plastic product and causing the liquid beeswax coated pellets to be placed into an injection molding feeding device which in turn causes the liquid beeswax coated pellets to be placed into cavities of the injection molding machine; and (e) opening the mold after a final finished product is formed wherein the product is made of plastic impregnated throughout with beeswax. 
   Of course the present invention is not intended to be restricted to any particular form or arrangement, or any specific embodiment, or any specific use, disclosed herein, since the same may be modified in various particulars or relations without departing from the spirit or scope of the claimed invention hereinabove shown and described of which the apparatus or method shown is intended only for illustration and disclosure of an operative embodiment and not to show all of the various forms or modifications in which this invention might be embodied or operated.