Lofty urban hives courtesy of Bee Collective and their magnificent Sky Hive

Date
12 July 2012

As everybody should know by now, bees have been in a spot of bother lately. They’re really not having the best time of things, either because of global warming (probably) or because we’ve stopped loving them like we used to (less likely). Sadly if they die out, so will an enormous amount of the native flora that decorates the landscapes we inhabit – not to mention we’d have no honey, effectively rendering crumpets obsolete.

Enter the Bee Collective, a cohort of beekeeping enthusiasts led by experienced honey-monger Pierre Van de Wal. Their aim is to bring bees back into urban environments by creating a manmade habitat for them to inhabit, located high above the city streets and in public parks. Their creation Sky Hive consists of a six metre pole at the centre of a platform of hives that can be winched up and down as desired – keeping the bees out of harm’s way (or us out of their way depending on your viewpoint) but allowing them to be tended to when necessary.

The Bee Collective then takes joint responsibility for their hives, allowing the fairly laborious day-to-day tasks of beekeeping to be shared amongst its members, allowing them to fit the bees into their buzzy (YES!) schedules.

Above

Bee Collective: Sky Hive

Above

Bee Collective: Sky Hive

Above

Bee Collective: Sky Hive

Above

Bee Collective: Sky Hive

Above

Bee Collective: Sky Hive

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About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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