The collapse of honey-bee colonies is bad news. Seventy-four
out of 100 different crop types that account for 90 percent of the
global food output are pollinated by bees, but the direct cause of the
phenomenon called the Colony Collapse Disorder remains unknown. Efforts
are being made to bring the bee population back to a healthy level with
city councils around the world encouraging the 3000 year old practice of
keeping bees in cities. While not proclaiming to solve large scale crop
pollination problems, Philips has turned its know-how to the equation
with this futuristic concept catering for the needs of the urban
beekeeper.
The Urban Beehive concept is a part of the Microbial Home Project -
Philips's effort at creating a domestic ecosystem of innovative design
solutions to cleaning, energy, human waste, lighting and food
preservation. The house is viewed as a biological machine capable of
filtering, processing and recycling what we would normally think of as
waste.
The bees enter the glass pane mounted beehive via an entry tunnel
located just above a welcoming pollen-filled flowerpot. On the inside
the bees encounter a set of honeycomb structures that they use to lay
their larvae, as well as store honey and pollen. If you'd rather not
meet the bees in person, you can simply watch them toil away safe in the
knowledge that there is a gradient-tinted glass barrier between you and
the laborious critters (only the orange wavelength of light which is
invisible to bees gets through the glass). And if you feel adventurous
enough to actually remove the glass cover and collect some honey, you
can calm the bees down by releasing smoke into the hive at the pull of a
cord.
1 Comments in Response to Philips's beehive concept - an urban home for the 21st Century bee
Top Bar Hive design:
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/beekeeping_permaculture
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Top-Bar-Beekeeping-Method.aspx
http://www.biobees.com/
http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/garden-hive/beneficial-insects-pollinators
http://www.beesource.com/how-to-start-beekeeping/