Simple & Pesticide-Free
Eltopia is in early stage development of a simple, pesticide-free way to remove varroa destructor mites in bee hives. Groundbreaking new technology, code named ‘MiteNot’, will sterilize mites thereby eliminating them without harming the bees.
Eltopia developed a compostable circuit board that senses the stages of the bee broods reproductive cycle and applies heat at a specific temperature and time to sterilize the mites. The circuit board is created from renewable resources, such as cornstarch.
Easy to Use
Heat is applied when the honeycomb cells have been capped and the temperature stabilizes. This is the approximate time when female mites lay eggs but before the male mites can fertilize, thus interrupting the mites’ lifecycle. It is very easy for beekeepers to use. Just one frame per beehive needs to be swapped for a ‘MiteNot’ frame.
Eco-conscious and well-engineered, ‘MiteNot’ is housed within a frame and wax covered compostable circuit board. The circuit board is covered in wax making it undifferentiated in use and appearance compared to a standard honeycomb foundation. Beekeepers can continually reuse the ‘MiteNot’ frame and have the ability to insert a new wax covered circuit board as necessary.
‘MiteNot’ is currently in research, development and testing. Eltopia is looking for commercial beekeepers and academic institutions to participate in additional testing. If the testing continues to be positive, Eltopia hopes to make this a simple, non-toxic way to eliminate varroa destructor mites. Eltopia is targeting market availability by fall 2015.
Download the complete project ‘MiteNot’ press release here.
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