Liquid nitrogen from BOC:
vital to the bees’ needs.
Business benefits
→ Expert BOC training
ensures safe use of liquid
nitrogen
→ The solution improves
the health and quality
of bees, helps farmers,
beekeepers and the
environment
→ Liquid nitrogen offers
better control and data
measurement than
conventional methods
→ Supplies of liquid
nitrogen are readily
available
→ Liquid nitrogen can
delivered to beekeepers
across the UK even in
remote locations
The honeybee is in crisis. Colonies are disappearing at an alarming
rate and the varroa parasite is the most likely culprit. Bee experts
know that hygienic colonies have a better chance of survival. By
helping the University of Sussex Laboratory of Apiculture and Social
Insects (LASI) use liquid nitrogen to arrest the spread of disease,
BOC is playing a key role in encouraging bee hygiene and saving the
world’s most vital crop-pollinator.
The issue
Infections, climate change, loss of flowers and
the use of insecticides have all been blamed
for the worrying decline in bee numbers
worldwide. But experts now believe the main
cause is the varroa parasite and are seeking
ways of helping the honeybee fight back.
The Laboratory of Apiculture and Social
Insects (LASI) is one of the UK’s premier ‘bee
laboratories’. It is conducting a three-year
research project funded by honey-maker
Rowse which aims to make bees resistant to
the varroa mite by breeding ‘hygienic’ Dark
European honey bees – a bee indigenous
to Britain.
Instead of employing standard tests of bees’
hygienic behaviour and then using a needle to
kill infected larvae, the LASI team chose liquid
nitrogen as a treatment method. This is less
time-consuming and easier to control. It is also
simpler to measure the effect in a systematic
way.
LASI uses BOC liquid nitrogen to freeze-kill
infected larvae in sections of combs which are
then warmed and reinserted into the hive. If
the process removes 80 per cent of the dead
pupae, the colony is considered hygienic and
its queens can be used to help other hives
survive. If LASI can engineer hygienic hives,
the problem of disappearing bees could
potentially be solved.
The BOC solution
Accessing liquid nitrogen was no problem for
LASI because BOC, a member of The Linde
Group, is the university’s long-term supplier of
liquefied gases.
But LASI also wanted to involve local
beekeepers. “It occurred to us that as part
of our outreach activities, beekeepers
would have an interest in learning about
the technology in workshops,” said research
scientist Norman Carreck. “Safe handling and
storage of liquid nitrogen is an important part
of it and we were delighted that BOC’s Paul
Charles could spend his Saturday giving a talk
that was extremely helpful.”
Paul, who is a BOC Cryospeed and OnStream
Specialist, volunteered to run a workshop in
his own time. He was keen that BOC did all it
could in the fight to save the honeybee, which
pollinates around £165m worth of crops in the
UK annually.
Advertised online by LASI, the course was
hugely oversubscribed but eventually 25
2 of 2
but it was more important for us that they do
so with all the facts,” said Paul. “Cryogenic
liquids can be hazardous if not used correctly.
Paul put together a pack of details and
safety documents usually given to new
BOC customers taking liquid nitrogen. He
explained the dangers and showed the
beekeepers how to use the product safely,
where to store it and how to obtain it.
“At -96°C, liquid nitrogen can give you
frostbite. As a gas it’s also an asphyxiant,
which needs to be stored in a room that’s fully
ventilated, not under the stairs.”
The business benefits
BOC Cryospeed is more than just a provider
of liquid gases. As a responsible supplier with
a duty of care, its staff also advise customers
on the best and safest ways of handling the
products they receive.
By giving beekeepers a better understanding
of the liquid nitrogen technique for
encouraging healthy bees, BOC is playing a
key role in breeding honeybees for greater
disease resistance.
“It’s great to be able to contribute, even in a
small way, to help our honey bees survive,”
said Paul.
“I am sure some of the beekeepers will obtain
liquid nitrogen from other sources than BOC
Norman Carreck, research scientist,
University of Sussex School of
Life Sciences
“The question of how to
handle and store liquid
nitrogen safely was key to
the workshops BOC ran for
us. Using liquid nitrogen
is easy for us to do as a
university, but not so easy
for individual beekeepers.
BOC showed that beekeepers
could get together and use
liquid nitrogen safely.”
BOC
The Priestley Centre, 10 Priestley Road, The Surrey Research Park, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XY, United Kingdom
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beekeepers from across the UK attended each
day of the training, which ran over two days
in May.