Product Design student looking for insight into beekeeping!

[saaarawr]

Hi everyone!

My name is Sarah and I am currently studying Industrial Product Design at Coventry University. Presently, I am in my final year of study doing market research into product areas and the one that is of most interest to me and also happens to be a massive current affair is our depleting bee population.

I was hoping if anyone could give me some insight into the problems you may have been suffering from our bee's becoming lost, suffering from disease and so forth.
Also, how did you get into the trade yourself? Is it you're full time job or as a hobby?
Also what types of hives do you use, and the advantages and disadvantages you have found from materials, construction or user relationship.
Just to make sure it is understood, I have no intention of redesigning bee-keeping, but as a student to understand the issues surrounding bee's and bee-keeping and how new design could be used to address these problems. Purely academic! It would be great for some feedback Any user insight would be really helpful.

Thank you!

Sarah

 

[thenovice]

Hi Sara,

Funny question to ask on a beekeepers forum as the answer is all in previous posts . about 9/10 posts will be about what you just asked.

Anyways:

most of us are just hobbyists and have fun faffing around with bees.

the main problems in my opinion are

Varroa and the diseases it spreads
pesticides (neonicotinoids are a hot topic nowadays)
monoculture of crops in certain areas leaving periods of dearth in the year


design wise, I think the only thing you can work on is the husbandry so focus on


ergonomics for the beekeeper
cost
environmental factors: heat loss, ventilation etc...
Hygiene and disease prevention

good luck with your design work

 

[saaarawr]

Hi Sara,

Funny question to ask on a beekeepers forum as the answer is all in previous posts . about 9/10 posts will be about what you just asked.

Anyways:

most of us are just hobbyists and have fun faffing around with bees.

the main problems in my opinion are

Varroa and the diseases it spreads
pesticides (neonicotinoids are a hot topic nowadays)
monoculture of crops in certain areas leaving periods of dearth in the year


design wise, I think the only thing you can work on is the husbandry so focus on


ergonomics for the beekeeper
cost
environmental factors: heat loss, ventilation etc...
Hygiene and disease prevention

good luck with your design work

Thank you for responding the reason I started another threat is so I can communicate directly rather than using someone elses effort. I have to do my own research thank you for your advice, it is certainly the direction I am going down

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Who told you the bee populaion is declining? don't believe everything (or is that anything) you read in the lesser tabloids such as the daily mail and the guardian or you hear from organisations trying to make a fast buck from people concerned about the bees plight (greenpeace for one)
The jury's still out on pesticides (anti pesticide brigade again jumping on the bee bandwagon)
Top of the list as always is the varroa mite - controlable but you have to keep on top of it - too many varoa factories around thanks to some 'natural' leave it alone beekeepers. And people who still insist on using ineffective mite treatments.
Weather has had a great effect in recent years - long cold summers followed by long cold springs (iterspersed with mild winters - cold ones are always best.
The big one is habitat - be it the monoculture farming practiced in some areas as thenovice pointed out or down to bad management and the loss of natural meadows, hedgerows etc.
My grandfather kept bees although it's a dim and distant memory for me but he propagated my interest in bees and I always intended one day to keep my own, but life and work got in the way until a few years ago when my wife took on the job of 'bee officer' for Welsh government - handling policy and funding. So I took up beekeeping as a hobby and now it's slowly taking over my life! - look on me as a bee smallhoder rather than a farmer!
National hives - I like them and have no issues with them. Mine are wooden - again I have no issues with this material - although I do put a layer of insulation under the roof.

 

[oliver90owner]

Weeelll, I am inclined to disagree a little with JBM.

If bees were not 'kept' there would be many fewer bees in the UK. They have, IMO, declined severely over the last several decades.

One problem area over several decades ha cetainly been that of pesticides. The 'neonics' are most certainly responsible for a decline in a vast range of insects, including bees. Honey bees have just been used as the main stick waver, but pollinators of all sorts have been affected by pesticides and particularly the indiscriminate neonics which are permeating not only plants but the soil and waterways.

Remember, fewer insects, means fewer birds and gaps in other parts of food chains/webs. Not good for anyone apart from food producers (and of course the pesticide purveyors).

Most certainy varroa have been the biggest man-imported pest our bees have to cope with and are likely the main reason for declining feral bees over the last couple of decades. Varroa are easily controlled in managed colonies, but this may not help the colonies which become feral by loss of swarms.

JBM is spot on re monoculture. Beekeeping in America has clearly been affected adversely - migratory beekeeping and lethal or sub-lethal applications of pesticides on those crops have been connected to serious colony losses. In fact, most agricultural changes have made life more difficult for all pollinators. Monoculture crops, removal of hedgerows, insecticide and herbicide use, all among the leading contenders.

Me? I'm just a hobbyist with health issues that prevented expansion and now leading to contraction. Used to prefer timber hives because I could make my own, but converted to polyhives as a better alternative, as far as the bees are concerned. Keeping bees is a simple craft, complicated by the many who don't understand the simplicity, or are misinformed, and over-complicate what is normally a stress free hobby.

 

[midnight sun]

JBM.
Keeping bees is a simple craft,................what is normally a stress free hobby.

I can hear the deafening sound of many a jaw hitting the floor as quite a few read your reply RAB. Must admit mine 'juddered' a bit before I got it under control. LOL
An honest reply that also made me smile. Nice one! (wink!)

 

[enrico]

Where to start! When I started beekeeping many years ago, as a result of a passing thought that it might be fun, there were no deseases and we got paid by farmers to take our bees to their crops.
Now, as a result of our own efforts to change our bees for the better we have introduced desease and mites to our secure island! We still import untested honey and bees! We had the opportunity to be a desease free island and we blew it. In England we tend to use hives that are not quite a perfect size for what we are doing, Nationals, which means we have a variety of designs where we have tried to use different designs to improve the original bad design and now we have a mishmash of designs and sizes keeping prices high and making life difficult for interchanging equipment between apiaries.
We have had a wonderful year this year and our stocks of bees and honey are generally high, but this changes from year to year. Wild colonies are fewer than they were when I started, but they do still exist and these are the ones that should be being monitored carefully but no one seems to be doing it. They could be the answer to many questions.
We love what we do, we don't do it for profit, there is none, but we do do it for general satisfaction, for the honey and because I am never failed to be amazed that these creatures still exist despite our best efforts to wipe them out!
E

 

[REDWOOD]

And probably our next threat will be GM crops

 

[midnight sun]

Good post Enrico. Says it all.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Now, as a result of our own efforts to change our bees for the better we have introduced desease and mites to our secure island!

Enrico, out of interest, when did we introduce AFB, EFB, Sacbrood,Chalkbrood, Nosema, Acarine, etc etc... if it was not around when you first started.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Enrico, out of interest, when did we introduce AFB, EFB, Sacbrood,Chalkbrood, Nosema, Acarine, etc etc... if it was not around when you first started.

It was the Buckfast importers who inadvertently snuck it in hidden in a bulk tank of pesticide

 

[farbee]

And probably our next threat will be GM crops

or maybe our savour.

 

[itma]

Beekeeping product design insights.

Beekeeping seems to be a common design project assignment.

Its deceptively hard. The "crude" "old-fashioned" equipment is actually very well fitted to its purpose, honed over the decades.

Function trumps form every time.

The environment of a beehive is pretty hostile. Outdoor, insects (who interfere - chewing, covering with propolis or wax), damp, frequently away from mains utilities. Beekeepers demand robustness. And expect things to last forever (oh, at least 20 years!)

The bees' instinct to fill holes and deal with any moving parts, let alone any surfaces or gaps that they don't like, needs to be understood before designing anything for a beehive.

The market is actually VERY small, so any product with high development or tooling (capital) costs is dead before it starts. There are perhaps 20,000 Uk hobby beekeepers and less than 1,000 commercial beefarmers.

There's not much money in it, so you have to think cheap and low-tech. Beekeepers are notoriously tight-fisted!

The craft is practiced worldwide, so lots of inventive beekeepers have always been crafting and refining their tools themselves. There's been a lot of innovation and evolution already. If its low-tech and cheap, a beekeeper somewhere has probably tried it already! And if it works, it'll have already been copied and manufactured.

Though beekeepers will gripe about it, there is some standardisation allowing flexibility in sourcing as hive components from different manufacturers should fit/work together.
The standards provide for 'systems'. Bees can be supplied, established on particular types of frames, ready to be moved into that specific type of hive. Accessories (like Queen Excluders) are fitted to the specific hive size. Wax foundation (a pretty necessary standard consumable) is produced in the standard sizes on industrial equipment. When it comes to honey extraction, the frames need to fit the extractor.
The British Standard may have expired, but its still pretty important.
A 'novel' hive needs a large 'ecosystem' before it can start.


You might find it interesting to arrange a visit to the UK's biggest beekeping equipment factory - its near Market Rasen. They are having a factory Sale on Oct 18th, but I don't think this one involves a full public "Open Day".
You should also download the PDF of their current catalogue, which will give you an idea of the number of different aspects to the craft, and the bewildering plethora of equipment on offer. http://www.thorne.co.uk


There is an interesting document for download from a supplier of a modern variant of the BS "National" beehive, explaining the design choices involved in their range of expanded polystyrene hives. LINK => http://www.beehivesupplies.co.uk/PDF/Polystyrene Bee Hive Design Concepts.pdf


Good luck!

 

[itma]

And a PS.

Beekeepers aren't your usual consumers.
Quirky and independent. Think "herding cats".

 

[enrico]

Enrico, out of interest, when did we introduce AFB, EFB, Sacbrood,Chalkbrood, Nosema, Acarine, etc etc... if it was not around when you first started.

Efb and AFB were not in this country to my knowledge in the 1980's ( but I could be wrong) they certainly were not something I ever heard about, but then I was only just learning so maybe I didn't know what they were! Likewise there was little worry about any of the others. We had no internet then so everything was done by word of mouth, especially if you didn't read books! Chalk brood was put down to cold weather, I hadn't even heard of nosema and acarine. Ok so maybe they were there but we never blamed them for hives failing, or I didn't, I rarely had a hive fail! I had no extra insulation, I never fed my bees in autumn. They just survived, year in and year out.......and then efb arrived and one of my hives got it. I was outcast by my local bka and I have never rejoined since.
It all seems so easy for the first ten years of keeping bees, maybe I was just naive, or stupid, or both but during the time bees were changing colour from black to black and yellow it all seemed to go wrong! And now here we are treating, feeding, insulating etc etc. oh! And no money from farmers any more!
Just the way it seemed to go for me. I have no doubt my early years were a mass of myths and an acute lack of knowledge, but it worked!
E

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

I've often wondered if it would be a good idea if someone with a design background took a long hard look at the standard hive, and came up with a radical new design.


Dusty

 

[itma]

I've often wondered if it would be a good idea if someone with a design background took a long hard look at the standard hive, and came up with a radical new design.


Dusty

Dusty - surely you remember this http://www.design.philips.com/phili...gnportfolio/design_futures/urban_beehive.page


/ or have you been using the aluminium cooking pans?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Efb and AFB were not in this country to my knowledge in the 1980's ( but I could be wrong)
E

You are - Manley, beekeeping in Britain 1948 discusses both foulbroods as well as acarine, chalk brood etc

 

[user 6228]

a little poetic inspiration for the design with apologies to alfred joyce kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose deep wooden brest
Becomes a Honeybees fortress nest;
A tree that is warm day and night,
with leaves that capture uncertain light;
flowers sweet to sustain in winters gale
till spring buds and swarms take sail

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Dusty - surely you remember this http://www.design.philips.com/phili...gnportfolio/design_futures/urban_beehive.page

Yes, of course, itma. But I've been thinking.

We're far too conservative, too stick in the mud.

Time for another new hive, I think.

Dusty.