we always talk about having more vegetation and farming to balance the concrete jungle, but one thing we may have looked past is pollination, which bees have been doing for us. urbanization drives the bees out and hence, flowers will not strive in cities. with this in mind, Philips came up with the Urban Beehive concept that is designed to entice the bees back into the cities. the Urban Beehive will allow virtually anyone to become a bee farmer, i mean, bee keeper, whether they are living in apartments or houses. this futuristic pod comprises of two parts: an entry passage for the bees on the flower pot and a glass vessel containing an array of honeycomb frames within. the glass is purposefully orange, allowing light to pass through forming orange wavelength within the glass vessel which, apparently, is what bees use for sight.
the frames inside the pod provide the building base for the wax cells. just imagine it as a ready-built apartment for bees, all the busy bees have to do is to add furniture, well… in this instance, that would be the wax cells. assuming bees did decide to take up resident in this beautiful, probably five-star accommodation, you will be able to observe them through the glass pod and when the time is ripe, you can choose to release smoke into the hive to calm the bees before opening the pod to access the honey comb or whatever you wish to do. with the Urban Beehive, it takes a stab at two key objectives: one, provide honey and offers therapeutic value of observing this fascinating creatures, and two, help in preserving the species and encourage them to ‘work in the city’. have a look at a couple more illustrations after the break.
