The Journal Of BubbleLand Studies Textnote
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De-mothing:jn07txt1.html

There are four basic substances involved in the manufacture of 
transniffer hives:
	Neutral BeeWax
	RosePetal
	RoseMoth Wing Dander
	RookWeed Pollen

As noted in an earlier textnote, jn04txt3.txt, RookWeed pollen 
greatly enhances the ability of Neutral BeeWax to 'resonate' with 
whatever scents contact it. In the wild, this characteristic 
allows RookWeed to mimic the scents of Bees that touch it, and to 
attract other Bees, who come to that familiar scent.

Unfortunately, nature's complexity introduces two other players into 
the picture. RoseMoths, so called because they mate only when RosePetal 
is in bloom, mate in RookWeed Blossoms. RookWeed Blossom is toxic to the 
RoseMoth during other times of the year, and RoseMoths avoid them.

In order to make Neutral BeeWax resonate with scents, it is mixed, or 
'doped' with RookWeed Pollen, and the slightest taint of RosePetal. 
Unfortunately, the mixture is a powerful attractor for RoseMoths, whose 
wing dander can neutralize the effect of RookWeed Pollen. The genius of 
the waxware engineers at Bee Labs, was that they saw an opportunity in 
Wing Dander Property, i.e., a way to 'switch' the transmission of 
scents. 

In a nutshell here is how the Bee Labs Transniffer works:

A neutral beewax substrate is laid down, and three segments of that 
substrate are doped with RookWeed Pollen, RookWeed Pollen, and a RoseMoth 
Wing Dander/RookWeed Pollen mix, each isolated by thin barriers of 
Neutral BeeWax. The thin segment in the center, called the 'stem,' 
controls the scent flow(see Fig. 1).

In the transniffer's 'off' condition, the dopants in the P1 and D segments
recoil from each other, in effect leaving a large band of neutral bee wax,
which scents cannot cross. If, however, RosePetal is introduced into the 
stem, the P1 and D Dopants are attracted to each other, and form only a 
microscopic film along the stem. The stem barrier can easily pass scents
in this condition.

In order to get up to the giga-sniff speeds needed in modern urban hives,
Neutral Beewax barrier substrates have been laid down smaller and smaller
with each generation of hives. Smaller microbees accomplish this easily,
but the danger is that micro-fissures will form, allowing scents into the 
atmosphere, where they attract RoseMoths. RoseMoth Wing Dander entering 
through these fissures, can compromise programs and effectively erase 
stored data.

All new Urban Hives must be de-mothed, with scabs of neutral beewax laid 
over microfissures. Among Bee waxware engineers, de-mothing skills are 
the most highly prized. 

Early Bee Labs studies of the transniffer, cautioned that a theoretical 
speed limit would be reached, when the barrier substrates became so thin 
that scents would be diffused to the atmosphere. Solutions proposed at 
that time were a thick barrier of neutral beewax, sealing the entire 
Urban Hive, or that the Urban Hive become a mobile structure, able to 
flee infestations of RoseMoths. This latter solution was thought to be 
impractical due to the enormous amounts of data storage required by Urban 
Hives.

The Editor

De-mothing:jn07txt1.html
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The Journal Of BubbleLand Studies Textnote