-Paper Dragon
(and let's give a very warm welcome to our newest member, Platypus!)
For over 8,000 years, people have used honey as a natural sweetener. Ancient civilizations believed that it even had healing properties! However, there is another use for bees. Bees are the main pollinators of flowers. That means, without bees, seeds wouldn’t be spread around and we would have a shortage of much food, like fruits. In 2014, the Colony Collapse Disorder killed 20-30% of the world’s bees. Scientists still aren’t sure what caused these deaths, but they do know that many bees are deserting their hives because of honey harvests.
A traditional method of harvesting honey is first smoking the bees. This allows them to calmly leave the hive so the beekeepers can take out the frames with the honeycombs, cut off the wax seals, and drain the honey. The problem is, the bees get so confused that they leave the hive- which is counterproductive, and they often die. Plus, it is inevitable that more than a few beekeepers will get stung. This process is stressful for beekeepers and bees alike.So the question is, how can this problem be solved?
The answer is the Flow Hive! Invented by Australian father-son team Cedar and Stuart Anderson, they plan to market the Flow Hive to beekeepers everywhere that will save many bees. This is the first advancement in beekeeper technology in more than 150 years! But what makes this “smart” beehive so smart, you ask?”
Half the hive has ready-made plastic combs that make it easier for the bees to build their own honeycomb and fill each one with honey. Instead of the smoking process, the beekeeper simply needs to turn a key outside the hive, which splits the wax caps off the honeycombs. The honey flows down the combs into troughs at the bottom, which drain out to a jar, as seen in the picture. Then the key is turned again and the combs are returned to normal.
Beekeepers will still need to smoke the bees out, but only to check water levels and bad parasites in the hive. Anderson hopes that with this new invention, we can bring back some of the lost bee population from the Colony Collapse Disorder, and perhaps inspire amateurs to become beekeepers. Click here to watch the official video!
Sources: indiegogo.com, news.yahoo.com, wired.com, DOGOnews.com
(and let's give a very warm welcome to our newest member, Platypus!)
For over 8,000 years, people have used honey as a natural sweetener. Ancient civilizations believed that it even had healing properties! However, there is another use for bees. Bees are the main pollinators of flowers. That means, without bees, seeds wouldn’t be spread around and we would have a shortage of much food, like fruits. In 2014, the Colony Collapse Disorder killed 20-30% of the world’s bees. Scientists still aren’t sure what caused these deaths, but they do know that many bees are deserting their hives because of honey harvests.
A traditional method of harvesting honey is first smoking the bees. This allows them to calmly leave the hive so the beekeepers can take out the frames with the honeycombs, cut off the wax seals, and drain the honey. The problem is, the bees get so confused that they leave the hive- which is counterproductive, and they often die. Plus, it is inevitable that more than a few beekeepers will get stung. This process is stressful for beekeepers and bees alike.So the question is, how can this problem be solved?
The answer is the Flow Hive! Invented by Australian father-son team Cedar and Stuart Anderson, they plan to market the Flow Hive to beekeepers everywhere that will save many bees. This is the first advancement in beekeeper technology in more than 150 years! But what makes this “smart” beehive so smart, you ask?”
Half the hive has ready-made plastic combs that make it easier for the bees to build their own honeycomb and fill each one with honey. Instead of the smoking process, the beekeeper simply needs to turn a key outside the hive, which splits the wax caps off the honeycombs. The honey flows down the combs into troughs at the bottom, which drain out to a jar, as seen in the picture. Then the key is turned again and the combs are returned to normal.
Beekeepers will still need to smoke the bees out, but only to check water levels and bad parasites in the hive. Anderson hopes that with this new invention, we can bring back some of the lost bee population from the Colony Collapse Disorder, and perhaps inspire amateurs to become beekeepers. Click here to watch the official video!
Sources: indiegogo.com, news.yahoo.com, wired.com, DOGOnews.com