Colony collapse disorder threatens the lives of bees just as much as it does our own, since bees play a vital role in pollinating the flowers of the many fruits and vegetables we eat. In order to combat colony collapse disorder, the Open Source Beehives project initiated by Open Tech Forever, Fab Lab Barcelona and Valldaura is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo, offering various ways people can help.
The aim of Open Source Beehives is to make beekeeping accessible to everyone; with a minimum contribution of $15 to the project, people will gain access to the Colorado Top Bar and Barcelona Warré hive designs, which can be printed from a CNC machine in wood. Other perks from contributing beyond $15 to the project include receiving organic fair trade honey, beeswax lip balms, symbolic hive adoptions, or a specially engraved beehive.
Funds raised from the Indiegogo campaign will go towards the development of sensors for the hives, which will provide Internet connectivity and help to record data on what may be causing colony collapse disorder in bees all over the globe.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Open Source Beekeeping
- Opportunities for creating open-source technologies and tools that make beekeeping accessible and sustainable.
- Connected Beehives
- Potential for developing sensors and IoT technologies to monitor beehive health and detect colony collapse disorder.
- Crowdfunding for Environmental Initiatives
- Growing trend of using crowdfunding platforms to raise funds for environmental projects like bee-saving initiatives.
Where This Applies
- Agriculture
- Opportunities for innovating beekeeping practices and technologies to support sustainable agriculture.
- Iot (internet of Things)
- Potential for developing connected beehive sensors and IoT technologies to monitor environmental conditions and bee health.
- Crowdfunding
- Rising importance of crowdfunding platforms as a means to support and finance environmental and sustainability projects.
