Project description
Saving bees with proper heat
The Varroa mite is one of the most harmful pests of honeybees worldwide, responsible for up to 30 % of their mortality. As conventional chemical treatments pose no less danger for honeybees, there is a need for an environmentally safe, sustainable alternative to eliminate the Varroa parasite. However, existing techniques are still far from offering enough effective choices. The EU-funded VATOREX project will provide revolutionary change with the Varroa treatment solution based on different heat tolerances of bees and parasites. Thanks to the advanced technology, the Vatorex-System enables an easy, safe, pesticide-free, ecological and more efficient fight to save honeybee populations from the varroa mite, while keeping low sanitary costs and impacts for beekeepers.
Objective
Currently, honeybee mortality rates range from 5% to almost 30% depending on the country and the year, being some of the main causes the Varroa mite. This parasite is currently treated with chemicals, which are considered a necessary evil by a population of beekeepers that considers chemical treatments largely as a threat because themselves are a cause for the bees’ population decline.
In view of these problems, other alternatives have been researched for decades, being the hyperthermia the methodology with highest potential to displace the use of chemicals. However, until now the current commercial solutions based on hyperthermia principles are not an alternative to chemical products due to a lower efficiency.
Vatorex AG is a small Swiss company committed to improve the bees’ health. The new business has started off as an association in 2015 and provides beekeepers with an eco-friendly solution to protect their hives from their greatest enemy: the Varroa mite.
We have developed an eco-friendly solution to kill the Varroa mites by using a natural principle of different heat tolerances of bees and varroa. In a range between 39°C - 42°C the parasite dies while the bees survive unharmed. In contrast to other hyperthermia systems, Vatorex-System heats the brood combs directly from the inside thanks to a heating coil that acts like a floor-heating. Vatorex-System has proven to be an effective treatment directly in the beehive (95% of male mites and nymphs die at 41ºC within 2 hours of treatment). The Vatorex-System means a reduction of sanitary cost of 66% per hive and a 18% in total cost of honey production that entails a total saving impact for the approximately 600,000 European beekeepers and their 17 million of hives. Vatorex is fully aligned with the European policy initiatives in biodiversity and pollinator protection such as European long-term survival strategy or the objectives of the EU Habitat directive.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology apidology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8542 Wiesendangen
Switzerland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.