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.
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.