MIT: Spring All Year for Bees and Humans with The Synthetic Apiary
We discover how MIT's The Mediated Matter Group has created a space where seasonal honeybees can produce honey all year round.
Can technology help save the bees?
Massive decline in bees worldwide, due to various factors affecting bee health such as agricultural chemicals, disease, and habitat loss, has raised alarm. The Mediated Matter Group, a team at MIT's Media Lab, have been looking at how technology can help us create artificial environments for the bees that would mean they could produce honey all year round.
Hive construction within the Synthetic Apiary environment by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
The project facilitates Mediated Matter's ongoing research into biologically augmented digital fabrication with eusocial (the highest level of organization of sociality) insect communities in architectural, and possibly urban, scales.
Honeybee hive installation in the Synthetic Apiary environment by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
Light, humidity, and temperature are engineered to simulate a perpetual spring environment. Bees are provided with synthetic pollen and sugared water, and evaluated regularly for health and wellbeing.
In this initial experiment, humans and honeybees co-habitate, enabling natural cultivation in an artificial space across scales, from organism- to building-scale.
Scanning electron microscope images of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Image: Dr. James Weaver (Wyss Institute, Harvard University) (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
Bees are an essential part of our agricultural production
Optical microscope image of honey by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
Optical microscope image of beeswax by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
Natural honeybee hives can house tens of thousands of insects, all working together as prescribed by a social division of labor. Large-scale hives are made of beeswax and are used for food storage and brood development, as well as shelter
Optical microscope image of a honeybee wing by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
Honeybee hive installation and monitoring in the Synthetic Apiary environment by The Mediated Matter Group (2016/2016) by The Mediated Matter GroupBarbican Centre
The cultivation of bees, the education about their health, and the advancement of non-standard bee environments has become increasingly important for their survival, and for ours. The Synthetic Apiary's architectural experiment incorporates several technological and biological investigations, and provides a setup for behavioral experiments regarding both bee fabrication capabilities and health.
At the core of this project is the creation of an entirely synthetic environment enabling controlled, large-scale investigations of hives
The Synthetic Apiary project was developed by The Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab. Researchers include: Markus Kayser, Jorge Duro-Royo, Sunanda Sharma, Christoph Bader, Dominik Kolb and Prof. Neri Oxman (Founding Director).
AI: More Than Human is a major exhibition exploring creative and scientific developments in AI, demonstrating its potential to revolutionise our lives. The exhibition takes place at the Barbican Centre, London from 16 May—26 Aug 2019.
Part of Life Rewired, our 2019 season exploring what it means to be human when technology is changing everything.
