B.SUITE

Cooperation FH Joanneum - Masterthesis
TeamIndividual work
Duration 9 months – 2017
own buisness since 2020-2022
Awards
Green Concept Award
AWS-Design Concept Award 2019
Briefing

Rethink wood – explore the specific features and qualities of wood

My research has shown that wood can expound many of its strengths best when being used in immediate contact with living beings.

Concept

How can wood improve the wellbeing of bees and humans?

b.suite is an ergonomic, nature-inspired and biological hive, that enables species-appropriate beekeeping in urban areas.

Sketches

Idea

The brood chamber is arranged in an ergonomic height for beekeepers and can be adjusted in size steplessly. Through the rearrangement of standardized frames (Zander 420x220mm, also other sizes possible), the climate is drastically improved for the bees according to the principle of a tree cave.

In common beehives a lot of heat gets lost through the roof during winter. This problem is solved with the new arrangement. If you compare the footprint of the b.suite with a common hive (Zander hive), the footprint area is reduced by about 74% while still using the same amount of frames (10 frames).

Footprint
frames

The idea behind is, that the bees don’t have to heat that much during winter, because the heat spreads in a better way similar to a tree cave. If the bees don't need to heat that much, they consume less honey and also produce less condensation water. Therefore the burden on the bees over the winter should be reduced.

Structure
Package
Ergonomic
How it works

With this arrangement, there are new possibilities in regard to handling the frames.

The first big advantage is that you can see all the frames at once, without having to remove the frames above (as usually in hives). Therefore you don't have to lift heavy frames, if you want to observe the brood. Furthermore you can adjust the volume for the bees with two cover frames, specifically to their needs. Therefore bees are not faced with a change of plus / minus 10 frames at a time.

In order to avoid an unintentional connection of the frames, there is a barrier with gaps in between. The gaps ensure that the bees have enough space to get through and that they are save while removing the frames. The distance is always the so-called bee space.

To keep the heat of the bees inside, there is sheep wool cushion at the top (Warré pillow). This allows condensation to escape.

Related Projects

Interested? Let's get in touch.