Abstract:
A vented beehive cover is provided for keeping a beehive cooler in hot climates in order to increase honey production. The beehive cover includes a bottom board which has a lower hive body stacked there atop. An upper hive body is stacked atop the lower hive body, and a venting cover encloses the upper hive body. The venting cover shifts with respect to the upper hive body in order to utilize wind direction and maximize cooling of the beehive.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention was first described in Disclosure Document Registration 502,393 filed on Dec. 17, 2001 under 35 U.S.C. §122 and 37 C.F.R. §1.14. There are no previously filed, nor currently any co-pending applications, anywhere in the world. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to beekeeping housings and, more particularly, to a vented bee hive cover. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The art, hobby and career of beekeeping is one that is enjoyed by many people worldwide. Not only is it a passive and tranquil occupation, it also produces honey and honeycomb which can be an income producing source. While the bees themselves are mostly self-sufficient, they do require some assistance for optimum honey production, especially in the area of man-made hive construction. While improvements over many years have enabled these man-made hives to be almost perfect at providing a suitable habit for the bee, while allowing an easy honey harvest, they are not very good at keeping the bees cool in a hot climate. Some attempts at using electric powered forced air fans have met with some success, but the outside environment quickly takes its toll on the mechanical and electrical components. Also, the electricity to power the fans eats into profits. 
     A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,170 issued in the name of Orletsky et al., describes a hive system for housing a plurality of bee colonies. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,458 issued in the name of Johnston, describes a hive complex which maintains multiple clusters of bees. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,791 issued in the name of Nishi, describes an artificial honeycomb. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,250 issued in the name of Taylor, describes a beehive which features passive solar heating, the venting of moisture, wind protected bee entrances. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,265 issued in the name of Van De Kerkof, describes a beehive having internal vents to permit airflow between the first and second space. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 211,779 issued in the name of Pitts, describes a new and useful beehive. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,668 issued in the name of Paoletti, describes a beehive with quick access ways from the bottom to the honey. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 1,447,713 issued in the name of David, beehive that will house two bee colonies 
     Consequently, there is a need for a means by which bee hives can be kept cool using a passive device without any of the disadvantages as discussed above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved beekeeping housing. 
     It is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved bee hive having an integral ventilation means. 
     Briefly described according to one embodiment of the present invention, the Vented Bee Hive Cover is a screened cover for a beehive. It is used to keep bee hives cool in hot weather, thus improving honey production. It is designed to completely cover the hive yet allow for complete natural ventilation and cooling. In addition to natural cooling, the beating of the wings on the bees aids in air movement and thus allows even more cooling power, through the use of the invention. The cover is made in a box configuration using wood and plywood components, aluminum screening, aluminum covers and corner guards. Its high-quality construction will last for years with no maintenance or operating costs. 
     The use of the vented bee hive cover allows bees in hot climates to remain cooler, thus increasing honey and honey comb production in a manner which is simple, effective and cost efficient. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The advantages and features of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following more detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are identified with like symbols, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a beehive constructed to embody the principles of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a section through the beehive shown in FIG. 1; the section is taken substantially along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a section through the top section of the beehive shown in FIG. 1; the section is taken substantially along line  3 — 3  of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a beehive cover  5  which includes a bottom board  10 , lower and upper hive bodies  11 , 12 , stacked onto the bottom board  10 , and a novel venting cover  13  enclosing the upper hive body  12 . 
     Lower and upper hive bodies  11 ,  12  and bottom boards  10  are of commercially available standardized design and construction; therefore they will not be described further herein except to the extent necessary to describe the principles of the present invention. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 to  3  venting cover  13  has an outer part  14  an inner part  20  and at least five spacer cleats  29 . 
     The outer part  14  comprises a top  15  having downward depending outer members  16 . The area of the top  15  best shown in FIG. 2 defined by the outer members  16  is larger than the area of the upper hive body  12  upon which the venting cover  13  sits. The difference in area allows for ventilation openings  19  shown in FIG. 3 between the outer part  14  and the inner part  20 . Each outer member  16  has an inside and an outside surface  17 , 18 . Enclosed within this outer part  14  is the inner part  20 . 
     The inner part  20  shown in section in FIGS. 2 and 3, has a mesh bottom  21 , upward depending inner members  22 , and tack strips  30 . The inner members  22  have upper and lower surfaces  23 ,  24 . The mesh bottom  21  is made of a corrosion resistant screen material through which the bees cannot pass. The mesh bottom  21  is held in place between tack strips  30  shown in section in FIG.  2  and the lower surface  23  of the inner members  22 . At least one large U-shaped ventilation notch  25  shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is cut out of the upper surface  23  of each of the inner members  22 . The inner part  20  of the venting cover  13  rests upon the upper hive body  12 . 
     Five spacer cleats  29  as shown in FIG. 3 are fastened to the inside surface  17  of the outer members  16  to keep the correct range of spacing between the inner part  20  and the outer part  14 . Spacer cleats  29  extend beyond the height of the inner part  20  in order to provide stand off for the venting cover  13  when it is placed over the upper hive body  12 . Spacer cleats  29  do not completely surround the upper hive body so that the venting cover  13  can be shifted with respect to the upper hive body  12  to take advantage of wind direction and to maximize the Venturi effect cooling of the beehive  9 . The ability to shift the venting cover  13  with respect to the upper hive body  12  differentiates the present invention from the ventilating cover shown in Taylor. 
     A ventilated void  28  as shown in FIG. 2 is created by the top  15 , the inner members  22  and the mesh bottom  21  when the inner part  20  and outer part  14  are fastened together. This ventilated void  28  allows for heat to build up outside of the beehive  9  and eventually ventilate out of the upper hive body  12 . By fanning with their wings bees in the upper hive body  12  can push hot air out of the ventilated void  19  and out of the beehive  9 . During hot summer months constant bee fanning along with the venting cover  13  has been proven to keep the hive temperature steady. 
     Unlike prior art ventilating covers the present invention is the first to be specifically designed for warm weather venting. The mesh area is as large as can possibly be adapted to a standard hive body. The generous ventilation openings  19  are designed to take full advantage of the large mesh area. In hot weather bees will not work in the upper hive body  12 . The present invention cools the upper hive body  12  enough to allow the bees to continue to fan in order to reduce the moisture out of the nectar to produce honey. 
     The venting cover  13  in the present invention is simpler in construction than the Van de Kerkof cover. The ventilation mesh in the present invention is one piece while in the Van de Kerkoff invention it is made up of 4 separate mesh pieces. The Van de Kerkof invention is also made up of three major components while the present invention is made up of two major components. Even though this venting cover  13  is simpler than the Van de Kerkof venting cover  13  it still allows the beehive  9  to vent without the use of the entrance of the beehive  9  for ventilation. This makes the beehive  9  easier to defend against natural enemies of the bees. In prior art beehives, on warm days the bee entrance had to be full opened to permit adequate ventilation which opened up the beehive to attack. 
     The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been,presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims.