SBIR Phase I: Precision Lasers for Controlling a Major Agricultural Parasite

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop and validate a novel solution for specific pests affecting honey bees. Beekeepers around the globe consistently cite Varroa mites as a leading cause of honey bee colony loss and, in the United States, attribute to these mites an estimated $2 B in agricultural damages every year. Since arriving in the U.S. in the late 1980s, Varroa mites have developed resistance to most known chemical pesticides, leaving beekeepers with few treatment options that do not also negatively impact the colony or contaminate honey. This project will develop a year-round, automatic, and chemical-free method for controlling Varroa mites, effectively mitigating the existing honey bee decline and resolving the chief problem facing beekeepers across North America and Europe, improving global food and agriculture supplies. The intellectual merit of this project is the interdisciplinary application of selective photothermolysis technology combined with in-depth understanding of honey bee behavior to remotely detect and destroy a harmful apicultural pest. This project is investigating the field efficacy and cost effectiveness of employing a computer vision-driven identification algorithm to identify the Varroa mite, a serious honey bee parasite, and then introduce a high-power laser burst to immediately destroy the mite while it remains attached to the infested bee but without harming the host. The research objectives include quantifying the negative effect on mite population growth during the growing season and determining the number of laser/detector devices required to maintain permanent year-round control of Varroa mites in a standard colony.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.