09 November 2011

Is it April Fools' Day?

Here is what Philips says: "The design of the beehive is unconventional, appealing, and respects the natural behavior of the bees. It consists of two parts: entry passage and flower pot outside, and glass vessel containing an array of honeycomb frames, inside. The glass shell filters light to let through the orange wavelength which bees use for sight. The frames are provided with a honeycomb texture for bees to build their wax cells on. Smoke can be released into the hive to calm the bees before it is opened, in keeping with established practice."
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This urinal-shaped hive is intended to be hung on a wall or pane of glass, with the white bit on the outside and the orange blob on the inside. Seems like an invitation to disaster. A few tugs of the cord from my enthusiastic children would test the hive well beyond destruction, emptying bees into my luxurious boudoir, to the dismay of all. And I wouldn’t wear that dress when beekeeping. 

http://www.design.philips.com/philips/sites/philipsdesign/about/design/designportfolio/design_futures/design_probes/projects/microbial_home/urban_beehive.page 

PS. What is an 'orange wavelength,' exactly? 

3 comments:

Beekeeping said...

I can't possibly take this hive design seriously. It is just too far out there to be practical. However, I think they'll sell a lot of them to a lot of folks that think they want to keep bees.

Comfrey Cottages said...

lovely to look at but very, very silly! as you say, is it april's fool day?

Gareth said...

Everyone knows that 590–625 nm is the wavelength of orange light.........don't they???