The Bee Hive Project

The Bee Hive Project is programme that seeks to aid the beekeeping industry adapt to climate change. The Urban Bee Hive Project has two (2) objectives:

1.      The Project is seeks encourage urban forestry and apiary by setting-up green spaces in order to sequester carbon whilst producing nectar for honey production, re-introduction of pollination where bees encounter less pest and diseases and provide farm gate prices to customers.

2.       Utilizing CNC-Router Technology to reduce the wood wastage hive production process by some 50%. The hives will be made from bamboo, an efficient carbon absorber, absorbing 90-400 tonnes of carbon in 5 years vs the 25 year it takes timber plantation absorb a similar amount carbon.

The intended outputs of the project include:

1.      The creation of Bamboo Colorado Top Bar and Warre Hives which encourage a more natural/sustainable beekeeping.

2.      Green urban apiaries and green spaces.

Honai Beez Apiary is approaching the  challenges of:

1. Bee foraging space reduction caused deforestation because Jamaica loses of about 350 hectares of forest each year, leaving 40% of Jamaica’s Forest of which only 25% is considered virgin forest.

2. Reducing timber and production time waste in the beehive making process can contribute to lowering the deforestation rate. This will affect the resources used for over 57,000 managed beehives as at 2018.

3. Jamaica's youth unemployment rate has averaged 33% of the 1.5million young person 35 years and under in Jamaica both qualified and unqualified are finding it harder to find jobs and thus have adopted unsustainable environmental practices similar to their parents.

Honai Beez Apiary is a social enterprise start-up which is utilizing beekeeping to combat climate change by transforming open space and vacant lots into green spaces and apiaries in urban and rural spaces for the conservation of honeybees, to help create awareness for pollinators. Honai Beez Apiary is exploring the utilization of Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) Routers and Bamboo as a climate smart material to create Topbar and Warre Beehive.  The creation of the Babmoo Beehives uses of Computer Numeric Controlled Routers that can mount 4x8 ft Bamboo play 3/4 inch thick to create the parts for Colorado Topbar, Longstroth and Warre Hives at an affordable price point with minimal impact on the environment by reducing the wastage of resources and reduce of the use of trees create hive bodies and equipment for beekeeping which drastically reduced to allow for greater affordability. This will allow all customers production to more environmentally sensitive and constribute to the reduction of deforestation rates and carbon foot prints of the customers' apiary. This is becuase individual 5 year old bamboos sequester more carbon than trees in their first 5-7 years of life and can be harvested as a renewable material.

Honai Beez Apiary is seeking to improve the beehives and their designs for beekeepers who manages over 57000 beehives islandwide who do not have a enough service providers to meet demmands for numbers of beehives produced especially during times of lumber scaricity especially the one that has occurred during COVID-19 on the island of Jamaica. The lumber scarcity has caused beekeepers to wait 2-4 weeks for an order which does not always include production time. Honai Beez Apiary is looking into the designs of Topbar and Warre hives has those in bee wax production women and older beekeepers have often times complaineheavy of having to lift heavy langstroth boxes once filled with wax and honey. 

During my investigation with the Kingston and St. Andrew Beekeepers Association members an organization I am a member of, beekeepers have mentioned they want beehives that:

1. Do not breaking down in the elements very quickly like pine that is used in alot of the beehives currently made

2. Are not heavy when inspecting and harvesting honey

3. Has some amount of termite resistance  

4. Are easily transported in bulk once purchased and ready to be moved from suppliers location

For Bamboo Beehives: Older, Organic and Urban Beekeepers

• Pain points: having to carry parts of the hive with you can be really heavy and bulky during harvesting and transportation; Beekeepers also want a long lasting hive that isn’t very susceptible to quick decay and rot. Beekeepers want to be able to transport a large amount of newly-made beehives in order to expand their apiaries and a flatpacked design that is easily assembled in the field will allow for this.
• Target Market: Women, urban, organic, mature, older beekeepers 45 and up, who don't like lifting weight seeking an easily operated and durable hive and want to practice natural beekeeping.
• Shoemakers, candle makers and cosmetics makers needing wax Island wide (Jamaica)

Bamboo Beehive

• Organic and Urban Beekeepers using natural beekeeping techniques seem to be more willing to test the bamboo beehive prototypes.
• A focus group has also suggested making a variety of beehive options out of bamboo. In essence, we will experiment with a full range of beehives:  the Top-bar hive, the Warre Hive, and the Langstroth Hive.
• A partnership with the Beekeeping Associations and the Apiculture Unit will be established in order to reach out to beekeepers island wide. One has already been established with Kingston and St. Andrew Beekeepers Association. An Apiculture Unit extension officer who suggested the Unit could purchase one and carry on display with them at a farmer’s market from which HBA could get some free marketing.

The alignment to the challenge of deforestation, resource usage, youth unempolyment includes a reduction in deforestation means a maintenance of the foraging area the bees collect nectar from which means an increase in honey flow which means a replacement of timber with bamboo in the production line. It also means we need to cut back on construction material usage which is where CNC Routers can be applied. This means teaching unemployed young persons about beekeeping, cnc machining, environmental sustainability and beekeeping which will allow youth and young adults in the green jobs sector.

The Bamboo Beehive is at the prototyping stage because I have just learnt how to use a CNC Router in 2020 and have only recently tested the first beehive designs locally to see if the CNC Machine produces the designs once plug in. I am also now researching the cost of production around each hive and the commercial line production mechanisms to produce the hives at an affordable cost to sell to beekeepers. Honai Bees Apiary also does not own its own CNC-Router or possesses a workshop/makerspace to produce the hives just yet. I have interviewed 50 beekeepers from the Kingston and St. Andrew Beekeeper Association by showcasing the pilot beehive and its functionality.

The innovation behind this solution is using CNC machining and Bamboo for the production of flatpacked beehives using factory production principles.

Honai Beez Apiary wants to serve the more than 15000 beekeepers with a hope to scale into the US matket serving the more 50,000 beekeepers located there within 18 months

Honai Beez Apiary hopes to measure :

1. # of trained beekeepers

2. # of youth beekeepers aided

3. # of trees planted

4 # of apiaries started with assistance from Honai Beez Apiary

5. # of green spaces established

Honai Beez Apiary only has 1 full time staff member but has contracted 2 persons previously advance certain acheivables such as documenting visually the prototype.

I also have an advisory council that is availble to asist an advise when time allows. This includes 2 law student, 2 community development specialists and 3 other beekeepers who are willing to come onboard later down the line. They are currently setting up their operations where they are.

I am Adrian Watson, and I hold a B.Sc. in Geography and Zoology for UWI, Mona and has been working in the area of policy, advocacy and natural resources management focusing youth and community development for 10 years; specifically, focused on biodiversity, climate, natural resources management and environment at the local, regional and international levels. These include the Seaview Gardens Community Development Committee, Jamaica Red Cross, Jamaica Organic Agricultural Movement, Caribbean Youth Environment Network and Global Youth Biodiversity Network. I have over 8 year of leadership experience where I have built out is skills in innovation and the creative solutions design process, strategic planning, vulnerability capacity assessment, project management, beekeeping, social entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

 I have been in the beekeeping industry since 2012. So I have a good grasp of the issues within the Jamaican beekeeping sector as well as issues at the global level.

My approach is to identify the gaps that I have in my business and find persons with the skills to fill them or atleast will be willing to give me advice on how to modify my appraoch to the particular issue or skill gaps. 

My goal is to recruit:

1. an accountant to help with the accounting challenges.

2. someone with a legal background that can aid me in keeping my compliance with local regukations and tax codes.

3. fundraising and communications experts that can help me in marketing, purchasing the require hardware scaling and expansion of production and selling to other markets.

I am hoping solve MIT can connect me to Makerspaces that help me build out my bamboo beehive prototype and expand a feasible business model around it in order to scale regionally (LAC) and eventually Globally. If i can overcome the barriers of funding and accounting I can purchase a CNC-Router that will allow me to produce an income 12 months of the year. In being able to do this I will be able to generate income and profit internal which will allow me to use some of that profit to re-invest and expand the operation as it is difficult for someone like me from a low income family to take a out a loan to start as persons like myself starting out in the micro business do not have the collateral to take up a bank loan at commercial interest level so my only 2 fesible options are to seek results based financing or grants. 

I need help to fundraising to be able to purchase a CNC-Router as there is only 1 of the size I need located in Jamaica and it is extremely expensive to rent the time usage seeing the owner also uses it for furnitire making. I also need capacity building in terms of not only expanding on my CNC Router and and designing skills but also my accounting skills as well not only in terms of money management but also impact matrix and data collection. 

Open source Beehives,

Any Makerspace using CNC Router like re:3D