Bee feeders today function primarily to dispense water, bee feeding supplements, or treatments to world or domestic bees. An inventor by the name of Paul Stamets, a mycologist and entrepreneur, wants to add a new function to this list: monetization using cryptocurrency.

Stamets' recently published patent application describes a labyrinthine bee feeder (LBF) capable of monitoring and recording bee visits. As bees visit the LBF, the system is able to credit cryptocurrency to a user's account, based either on a quantity of visits or a type of pollen detected. This monetization of LBFs ties a cryptocurrency to a reliable and tangible benefit to farmers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and consumers.