Carpenter bee traps
A carpenter bee trap having at least one entrance hole, at least one plenum section connecting the at least one entrance hole to at least one receptacle adapter coupling, and least one removable receptacle attached to at least one receptacle adapter coupling, the at least one removable receptacle made of a material that admits ambient light to a greater extent than the material forming the plenum such that insects entering the trap follow a path of increasing intensity of ambient light that leads them to the receptacle. In one embodiment, existing carpenter bee nests are treated with a disclosed insecticide gel. The insecticide gel consists of a thixotropic, injectable, non-hardening, non-volatile gel blended with a pyrethroid insecticide, in effect converting the bee nest into a trap.
The present invention relates to the general field of flying insect traps and the specific field of carpenter bee traps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCarpenter Bee Identification
Most carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp., are large and robust insects resembling bumble bees. They are usually about 1 inch long and colored a metallic blue-black with green or purplish reflections. They differ from bumble bees in that their abdomen is shiny with fringes of hairs on some segments. Males of some species are lighter colored, ranging into golden or buff hues. Female carpenter bees bore into sound wood or sometimes into decaying wood to make nests. Nests usually consist of tunnels ½ inch in diameter and 6 to 10 inches deep that are partitioned into several chambers, each containing an egg and a supply of food (pollen). The tunnel entrance has been noted to slope upward, commonly a near vertical opening in the side or bottom surface of a wooden member. Carpenter bees may use old tunnels for their nests, which they sometimes enlarge; several bees may use a common entry hole connecting to different tunnels. Over a period of time, tunnels may extend as far as 10 feet into wood timbers. Tunnels are vacated after the brood's larval and pupal stages complete their development. Development from egg to adult may take about 3 months. Carpenter bees overwinter as adults, often in old tunnels, and there is only one generation a year.
Carpenter bees cause damage to wooden structures by boring into timbers and siding to prepare nests. The nests weaken structural wood and leave unsightly holes and stains on building surfaces. Woodpeckers feeding on carpenter bee larvae multiply the damage by tearing open the nests. Sound, undecayed wood without paint or bark is usually selected for nests. Farm structures that feature exposed unpainted rafters are particularly susceptible to infestation. Since the bees do not eat the wood, lumber that is naturally insect resistant or treated to resist insects is susceptible to infestation. In testing and field observations, carpenter bees were most attracted to Juniperus virginiana wood of the Cupressaceae family, presumably since the aromatic insect-resistant nature of the wood repels parasites of the bees. Standing dead Juniperus virginiana trees are conspicuous as sites of carpenter bee colonies in the southeastern United States. Carpenter bees also frequently attack dead wood on trees or lumber from southern yellow pine, white pine, California redwood, cedar, Douglas fir, cypress, mimosa, mulberry, ash, and pecan trees. They avoid most harder woods. The presence of carpenter bees around buildings and wooden structures can be annoying or even frightening; however, males cannot sting and females rarely attack.
SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ARTMany types of insect traps are currently available but only a few specifically target carpenter bees. One example is Wood-Boring Insect Trap, application Ser. No. 11/846,766. It consists of a board with entrance holes and a glue trap in the interior. The disclosed trap features entry hole geometry that closely mimics natural carpenter bee nest holes, however, the interior glue traps have a very limited capacity and the trap must be dismantled to check whether the trap is full or even whether it is catching bees. Further, trapped dead bees must be individually picked from the glue by hand and replacement glue traps are proprietary to the design and must be ordered from the trap provider at high expense and low convenience.
Carpenter bee trap disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,611 is an opaque box with an entrance hole and a means of opening the box to remove trapped bees. It provides little means of preventing bees from exiting the trap, no method for the operator to monitor the contents of the trap, and no positive containment of trapped bees during the removal process.
Electronic Carpenter Bee Trap disclosed in US patent 20070006519 is a block style trap that features an electrode to kill any bee that enters the trap from a hole in the bottom, at which time the dead bee falls from the entrance hole. The high voltage electrodes and their power source add complexity and expense to the trap. Since dead bees are not retained, it is difficult to monitor the effectiveness of the trap.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,402 discloses an insect trap that uses a plastic beverage bottle as a collection vessel. Also disclosed is the use of ambient light to confuse the insects. Unfortunately the disclosed trap geometry does not appear to take significant advantage of the ambient light attraction principal and the principal is not well defined.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an objective of the present invention to provide one or more devices and related methods of manufacture and deployment to aid in the protection of structures from carpenter bee infestation. The devices presented herein represent a best effort at providing guidance by way of example to those skilled in the art to reproduce the invention. They are not intended to limit in any way the reproduction of the invention in combinations and or permutations not specifically described. The carpenter bee trap of the present invention is an assembly that includes a trap entrance unit and at least one attached, disposable receptacle. The trap entrance unit features at least one bee entrance hole that slopes upward towards the interior. The upward sloping entrance mimics the preferred entrance style of a natural bee nest while reducing the amount of ambient light entering the entrance hole. The roof of the trap entrance unit overhangs the sides and provides added shelter for at least one entrance hole. The interior of the trap entrance unit forms a plenum which promotes the conveyance of the bees through at least one receptacle adapter and into at least one removable receptacle. The at least one receptacle adapter allows convenient attachment, removal, and replacement of receptacles. The area surrounding the at least one receptacle adapter is sloped such that gravity aids in the conveyance of bees into the at least one receptacle. Further the material of the at least one receptacle and optionally the area surrounding the at least one receptacle adapter has a degree of transparency such that ambient light is admitted in excess of other sources of light within the trap entrance unit plenum. Bees that enter the trap entrance unit plenum will immediately identify the brightly lit at least one receptacle adapter as an exit route at which point they enter the at least one receptacle. Many flying insects including carpenter bees rely heavily on ambient light for navigation and orientation. As a result, bees trapped in the at least one receptacle only try to escape through the transparent walls of the receptacle and do not attempt to return to the dimly lit trap entrance unit plenum. The system has proven highly effective in trapping bees. Bees in the at least one receptacle are unable to escape and eventually die. While a bee is alive in the trap it will make distress noises that attract many more bees to the trap for a cascading effect. Once the receptacle is full of dead bees it can be easily removed, capped, and discarded. The trapped bees tend to pack in tightly and a 16 fluid ounce size receptacle will hold hundreds of bees. Plastic beverage bottles employed as receptacles also provide a positive barrier that can be handled without fear of contact with the trapped bees.
The insecticide gel according to certain embodiments of the present invention consists of an insecticide, preferably a pyrethroid, more preferably permethrin, in a concentration of 0.2 to 2%, blended in a non-volatile, non-hardening, non-skinning thixotropic gel, preferably petroleum jelly. A small amount, preferably 0.1 to 1.0 ml, is injected into existing carpenter bee nests using a pressure applicator, preferably a syringe with volumetric graduations, with an extended nozzle to reach from about 1 inch to about 2 inches into the nest hole. When a bee makes contact with the gel a portion of the gel clings to the bee and the immediate response is for the bee to attempt to clean itself which results in rubbing the gel over it's body, enhancing the effect of the insecticide. Fumes of the gel within the nest are sufficient to induce any bees or larvae within the nest to exit, at which time they contact the insecticide and are destroyed. The residual life of the non-drying insecticide gel applied in bee nests has been demonstrated to exceed 12 months with continuing bee kills noted throughout the period. Once carried outside the nest, the pyrethroid insecticide decomposes rapidly due to sunlight exposure. Long lasting powerful insecticides such as fipronil are highly undesirable in this application because of the likelihood of them spreading to and destroying colonies of beneficial pollinating insects.
The trap entrance unit is preferably hollow and box-like, with 4 side panels, a roof panel that overhangs at least one side to shelter at least one entrance hole, and a sloped bottom surface, that form a plenum which promotes the passage of bees from the at least one entrance hole to the at least one receptacle adapter coupling and into an attached receptacle. Alternatively the trap entrance unit may be made from a solid piece of wood or similar material with a tunnel type plenum similar to natural bee nests. The trap entrance may feature a top anchor point for hanging the trap. Alternatively, a clip may be attached to the trap entrance unit which allows it to be easily attached to an exposed structural element such as a rafter made of dimensional lumber, or the trap entrance unit may be screwed or nailed to a structural element. The trap entrance unit may be installed in a position that blocks an existing bee nest entrance in the lumber. A bee searching for a blocked nest entrance is likely to enter the trap.
A device to generate a sound that mimics a live bee in the trap may be added to certain aspects of the invention to serve as an attractant. The device may be an electronic recording similar to that used in talking greeting cards or a motor driven device similar to the vibrating alerts used in pagers and cellular phones. The sound making device can be powered by batteries which may be recharged by a solar panel on the top of the trap. Similar solar powered batteries are commonly used to power exterior path lighting. Since carpenter bees are most active during the daylight hours, the sound making device may alternatively be powered directly from a solar panel without a storage battery. An attractive scent or pheromone may be added to certain aspects of the invention to enhance the local attractiveness. Strong scent attractants are not a preferred embodiment due to the potential for attracting more insects to the structure to be protected.
In certain embodiments of the disclosed invention, trapped bees are contained in at least one removable receptacle and when the receptacle becomes full it may easily be removed, capped, discarded, and replaced with a new receptacle. Used beverage bottles may serve as replacements or new replacement receptacles may be purchased.
The carpenter bee trap and insecticide gel disclosed herein are the result of a detailed study of carpenter bee behavior and extensive experimentation using prototype traps around infested structures. Single traps of the disclosed designs have caught bees by the hundreds per day.
When bees enter trap entrance unit 1, they immediately see the ambient light entering from the clear plastic reducer 4 as well as from receptacle 6 through the opening in adapter coupling 5. Attracted by the light, the bees immediately fly to the bottom of the trap where they are quickly funneled into the receptacle 6. Aside from attracting bees, the sheltered entrance hole also prevents ambient light from directly entering the entrance hole and bees within the trap will not identify the entrance hole as an exit. In experiments bees that fully entered the chamber were never observed to escape through the entrance holes despite the absence of a physical labyrinth. Although the clear reducer section 4 enhances the effectiveness of the trap, it is possible for the trap to have an opaque reducer section and rely on the light entering through adapter coupling 5 to guide bees into clear receptacle 6. A further advantage of the clear plastic construction of the reducer and collection bottle is that it allows the user to easily monitor the activity within the trap to gauge the effectiveness of deployment as well as to monitor the level of dead insects within the receptacle. As the receptacle fills, newly trapped bees tend to burrow into the pile of bodies with the result of tightly packing the contents of the receptacle giving it a collection capacity of many hundreds of bees.
Experimental observation also indicated that carpenter bee traps containing live bees were significantly more productive than empty traps or traps containing only dead bees. Live bees in the trap actively make distressed buzzing noises which appear to be the primary attractant. A sound making device which mimics the sounds of a trapped bee can be added to any of the disclosed trap designs to enhance its effectiveness. An electronic player similar to those used in talking greeting cards or a motor buzzer such as a vibrating cell phone alert device represent two possible options for adding the sound attractant feature. Electrical power for the device may come from a storage battery or solar panel mounted on the device or a combination of the two. Since carpenter bees are most active during the daylight direct solar power can provide the desired effect at the appropriate times.
Proper deployment of the carpenter bee traps disclosed herein is vital to the success of controlling carpenter bees. First, the areas where bees congregate should be identified. Second, existing nest holes should be treated with insecticide gel. Third, carpenter bee traps should be installed near the location of the treated nests and in other areas of carpenter bee congregation. Finally, the traps should be monitored to gauge the effectiveness of placement. Some areas are guarded so aggressively by existing bees that no bees are allowed to enter the trap. If the nests of the existing bees are treated, they will either enter the nests and be killed by insecticide or enter the trap in the evening and subsequently other bees will be able to gain access to the trap. When a trap receptacle is observed to be full, it may be removed, capped, discarded, and replaced with another new or recycled bottle. Alternatively, once all bees are dead it may be emptied and re-used on a trap.
Claims
1. A carpenter bee trap comprising:
- a trap entrance unit forming a plenum being made of wood or a wood substitute;
- said trap entrance unit having at least one hole drilled there-through and sized to mimic a natural carpenter bee nest tunnel so as to provide a primary attractant;
- said hole extending from the outside of the trap unit to a plenum interior; said hole being configured to extend substantially horizontally or at an upward angle; a means to shelter an entrance to said hole is provided to reduce the admittance of ambient light;
- said trap unit further comprising a receptacle adapter being substantially located at the bottom of said trap unit and being configured to receive a clear or translucent receptacle;
- a receptacle received by said adapter situated to allow ambient light to enter through said bottom into said plenum interior, thereby providing a secondary attractant; said receptacle further being provided to receive trapped bees.
2. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is temporarily attached to the trap.
3. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is disposable.
4. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is configured to be screwed into said bottom of said plenum.
5. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is configured to provide a friction fit with said bottom of said plenum.
6. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein said plenum interior slopes downwardly toward a center region at an angle between 5 degrees and 90 degrees.
7. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the at least one hole is between ½ inch to ¾ inch.
8. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein a back panel of the plenum is vertical and has a flat exterior to allow flush mounting.
9. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein means to shelter comprises a roof that is angled downwardly.
10. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein a means to mount the trap is located substantially at the top of the trap entrance unit.
11. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein a means to mount the trap is located substantially at the back of the trap entrance unit.
12. The carpenter bee trap of claim 1, wherein the trap entrance unit is configured to receive a plurality of receptacles.
13. A carpenter bee trap, comprising:
- a trap entrance unit formed of wood or a wood substitute, wherein at least one side of the trap entrance unit has at least one entrance hole that extends from outside the trap entrance unit to an interior of the trap entrance unit, wherein the at least one entrance hole extends substantially horizontally or at an upward angle with a size and shape configured to provide a primary attractant for carpenter bees, and wherein the trap entrance unit further comprises an exit opening for providing an exit path from the interior of the trap entrance unit; and
- a receptacle adapter located at the exit opening of the trap entrance unit, wherein the receptacle adapter is adapted to receive at least one receptacle and is adapted so as to allow at least some ambient light to enter the interior of the trap entrance unit via the exit opening, thereby providing a secondary attractant for carpenter bees.
14. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, further comprising a receptacle removably attached to the receptacle adapter.
15. The carpenter bee trap of claim 14, wherein the receptacle is clear or translucent.
16. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the trap entrance unit comprises at least one top panel that overhangs a side wall of the trap entrance unit.
17. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the at least one entrance hole extends at an upward angle.
18. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the receptacle adapter comprises:
- a reducer section; and
- an adapter coupling attached to the reducer section, wherein the reducer section and/or the adapter coupling are at least partially clear or partially translucent so as to allow ambient light to enter the interior of the trap entrance unit through the reducer section and/or the adapter coupling.
19. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the exit opening is shaped so as to function as the receptacle adapter.
20. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the receptacle adapter comprises a female threaded coupling that is configured to receive a receptacle with a corresponding male threaded coupling.
21. The carpenter bee trap of claim 13, wherein the exit opening is located below the at least one entrance opening.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Feb 18, 2015
Date of Patent: Jun 6, 2017
Inventors: Brian Robert Blazer (Heflin, AL), Bradley Jerome Blazer (Granite Falls, NC)
Primary Examiner: Beverly M Flanagan
Application Number: 14/625,478
International Classification: A01M 1/20 (20060101); A01M 1/10 (20060101);