The final project for this class had very few instructions, which led to a diverse range of ideas and models. Our model what to redesign the commercial beekeeping industry. My group members and I found ourselves wanting to solve the problems associated with honey bees in commercial agriculture. Our ideations led to Rent-A-Hive, a business concept that profits through optimizing the minimization of stress to bees. Rent-A-Hive is a stretch of an idea that could potentially work in the current market of commercial beekeeping by adapting technologies in other industries to beekeeping. Overall I really enjoyed the idea of Rent-A-Hive and while I do not think it is applicable due to large capital costs I do think strategies we discussed will be applied to commercial beekeeping in the near future. 
If the idea of Rent-A-Hive were to continue there would have to be decisions made on what would be manufactured and what would be purchased and adapted. I could see it entirely possible that none of the components are actually manufactured by Rent-A-Hive but all purchased and the money is made through pollination services. During questions, after our presentation, the idea of data and its value was discussed as well. I think this is a great area to pursue as well because this data may be of more worth than the pollination services. 
​I think several of the ideations produced by other groups were very well done as well. I really enjoyed the idea of a family build your own bee house. I think this idea has a lot of possibility and could be found in the real world as a reasonable product. Another idea that left me in awe was the museum exhibit. I thought this was a brilliant idea that perfectly incorporated arts based research. It was pertinent that a lot of work had been done in the background to create the arts based research presentation.  

​Reimagining Large Scale Pollination with Rent-A-Hive
In recent years there has been an alarming, sharp decline in bee populations across the entire world. This loss represents a potentially huge impact on agriculture and a significant impact on our food reservoir, as bees provide necessary reproductive means for almost two thirds of our produce each season. Our goal, above all else, is to reduce the stress that bees face as they assist in both pollination and honey production. The current model for beekeeping is outdated, and we aim to modernize and expand beekeeping in order to better meet demand- while still ensuring healthy and happy bees for the next generation. If current trends persist, the price of pollination will continue to increase exponentially, and by prioritizing bee health and safety we can keep bees strong and match the demand for what is now a limited resource. Our model involves improved transportation to provide needed pollination and minimized human interaction, modern hives that can provide vital information for beekeepers and researchers alike, and regional sanctuaries that offer the bees a safe space in which they can thrive and keep their population healthy. Various sensors that include measurements of temperature, humidity, and even acoustics allow us to closely monitor bee health and hive stability. Overall, we can guarantee strong hives to be delivered in a timely and efficient manner using this model; and in turn combat this decline in the bee population while ensuring a sustainable future for bees and the invaluable pollination they provide.

The ideal bee project presented a unique scenario for students to push their creativity, and create. There were no clear guidelines and I think that is what made the project difficult to grasp. The concept of making changes to a bee is also a stretch outside of many students’ comfort zone, where logical thinking can make obscure ideas feel silly and unrealistic. Another challenge of the project is that students were not told what to make their model out of, they were handed a multitude of possibilities which can be overwhelming and lead to unproductivity.
My group made an ideal bee that was made of 3D printed plastic and represented a medical bee. This idea for a medical bee came to me after my group mates and I collaborated on a variety of ideas. We had begun deliberating a multitude of ideas and began to categorize our results. Two main groups emerged, ideations to make the bees able to better pollinate and how to stop them from getting sick. Expanding upon the latter we broke down ways this bee would defend its hive, primarily removing mites and injecting antibodies. My readings of Thor Hanson’s BUZZ allowed me to look at how this bee could realistically survive. I delved into its physical and cultural evolutionary possibilities and procured and image of a bee without hair or wings, much like its wasp and parasitic bee counterparts. This bee would serve to offset human interactions with bees and fill this new evolutionary niche. Upon reflection during our presentation I thought of new ways this bee could come to survive. Whether fed unique hormonal jelly inside the hive as a larvae or a brand new species working in mutual symbiotic relationships with the honeybees.
After generating an idea to base our model on we explored the makers space and viewed potential options for our final product. After careful deliberation we set out to use TinkerCad and the Ultimaker 3. Having a coop background in 2D AutoCad I had a bit of experience in drawing software and overall found the TinkerCad software easy to use. While making the bee we were weary if it would turn out okay, but overall I am very proud of how it looked and believe it was able to exemplify the possibilities for the medical bee.

The book I read for the fishbowl discussion was Buzz by Thor Hanson. I actually really enjoyed the experience of reading this book and how it was written. The narrative style of memoir combined with information was very appealing and its deep dive into larger than life topics was constantly intriguing. One of these topics was evolution, where Hanson spoke on the development of the bee from wasps, how bees coevolved with flowers, and then how humans have evolved with bees. I found the idea of cultural evolution in bees through eusocial communities to be particularly interested, and how the development of this evolutionary trait is not always dominate. Another interesting note on evolution is that humans have evolved dependent on bees, particularly honey bees, for honey and pollination. This dependence has led to what I believe is an evolutionary trait in humans to have “fondness” for the honeybee. Unlike flowers however humans have more of a parasitic relationship with bees, which was particularly noted in the final section of the book, which spoke on the current state of bees worldwide. One component it noted that has led to the death of bees worldwide was globalization, particularly the spreading of diseases from separated bee populations. An example it gave for this was Belgium bumblebees being shipped for the greenhouse industry, my industry. This led me to realize that what has been deemed colony collapse disorder was most likely due to the initial effects of industrialization and globalism. Now we find ourselves in a new age where current bee populations have been able to survive these initial causes of immediate death, but are now dying to increasing stress and overexertion, which are mainly due to human greed and short term thinking—capitalism.
One part of Buzz that was especially enjoyable was that it focused on bee species other than honeybees. This separation made it very unique, especially when compared to the other books which focused nearly exclusively on humans and honeybees. I often read Buzz in Ault Park, while in Ault I would take breaks and take photos of bees at nearby flowers. Thor said frequently in his book that bees are all around us and we just need to take the time to look, since reading I’ve began taking the time to look, and the bees are always there! Photos from Ault are featured below.
During our class fishbowl discussions I was involved in the first group to go that focused on animal and economic sustainability with regards to capitalism. I am in the belief that bees are a great metaphor for the hidden plights capitalism can bring to society. With capitalism hidden externalities occur when a product or service is not properly represented fiscally, in the case of bees its their roll in pollination and its benefit to nature. I found the fishbowl conversation intriguing but felt that ideas were not able to be effectively discussed because the groups were too big and there was no real in depth voiced disagreement. I would have liked to see more conversation on how capitalism affects bees and what changes could be done to tip the scales in favor of bees. I enjoyed and gained a lot from being outside of the fishbowl as well. It reminded me of the art critical thinking at the Triceracopter in the sense that I was able to create new conclusions and ideas based on the third party view of the conversation over an extended period of time.

​The LiveWell Collaborative was featured in a newly renovated old Sears building. The fact that this no spring chicken building a century ago was a titan of industry became a striking thing to keep in mind while at the innovation center. Being told this by Craig Vogel set the stage for our visit.
Craig went on to present about some of the key products the center had produced in conjunction with local industry, focusing on Proctor and Gamble and Children’s Hospital. While the intellectual property professors, grad students, and coops created in conjunction with P&G was not allowed to be shared with us the developments with Children’s Hospital were. One example that was showcased was a simple tracking tool that was able to influence children going through chemo’s behavior. The children going through chemo have to conduct exercise, shower, and brush their teeth multiple times a day as it is greatly important to their health and well-being. This proved hard to track and promote with Children’s and therefore the collaboration was sought out. I was very impressed by the out of the box approach to the optimization problem. Not only did the collaborative find a way to efficiently track data but also to influence its creation.
After the presentation we walked around the upper floor of the collaborative and saw several product ideas and prototypes. One particularly interesting concept was a series of profiles that described certain archetypes. For example the stressed out mom or the physically and mentally exhausted middle age man. The personalities and personas could be applied to topics or products and an investigation into this audience could be conducted, what a cool concept!
At the end of the trip we went down the ground level where we saw the mechanical tools, 3D printer, drafters, and anything a hands on entrepreneur could need. I was astonished by the amount of quality equipment at the disposal to whoever is willing to innovate. I found it inspiring and it made me want to push myself to take advantage of the space while I still can and strive to learn more rigorously. 

​The Green Acres field experience was split into two main parts, the indoor video and the outdoor nature walk. The video summarized many of the topics we had been discussing in class, one of them being how the bees dance and communicate their sources of nectar. Inside the wooden lodge classroom there were several bee tools and devices. There was a wooden bee hive with its several chambers, each with a different purpose.
Another device, one I found particularly interesting was the honey and hive separating tool. It lined the honeycomb sheets with freshly cut wax on the inside in a triangle and using a hand crank the triangular prism of honey combs rotated. The centrifugal force causes the viscous honey to seep from the waxy honey comb and into the bottom of the tank where a spigot allowed fresh honey to be strained of wax and bee limbs before being collected.
​The outdoor portion of the trip was especially great. Our guide was well versed in all the native species plant, bug, and bird alike—always able to answer our questions of “what is that?” As we walked and hovered, each of us peered carefully into the colorful flowers, every minute a new pollinator being discovered. The honeybees that were there, and there were many, seemed very busy. The honeybees were not at all bothered by us, even as we got close and tested our limits (without being disrespectful to the bee of course.) Towards the end of the tour we glimpsed into the world of a species of wood bee the uses tubes to breed chambers and is a native to Ohio. We also got a glimpse of Green Acres’ honey bee hives. They had 3 in production, but only one of the hives of thriving, and one was struggling to stay healthy. We were also not allowed to get close, which indicated to me the severity of the problem Green Acres was facing. It made me wonder and realize how close to home this wicked problem is, and that the localized solution to the urban bee problem might be unrealistic after all. I plan to visit a friend’s urban bee hive soon, and will make sure to document if this local hive is experiencing the same level of hardship and death.