Description of the Seminar.
This seminar drew me in initially as an interdisciplinary class that brought together different backgrounds to solve engineering and design problems. It also includes learning more about honeybees and how we can help solve the problems facing the pollinators. The first part of the class was where we did a lot of learning about the problems facing the honeybees. I enjoyed listening to the podcasts, reading articles, watching documentaries, and most of all participating in a book club with a bee centered book. After learning about the bees, we were put into groups for the ideal bee project. We took what we learned to come up with a way that bees would be able to adapt to the problems facing them. Lastly, we had our final project in the format of the bio-design challenge. I loved working with people from different majors to solve a design problem. As someone in a design major, it was really interesting to work through the kind of project I do all the time with people who had different perspectives and ideas to bring to the table.
My work from this Class.
Book Club Pick: The Bees by Laline Paul.
Ideal Bee Project
The bee is equipped to handle the cold, as long as they are dry. Moisture within the hive is the leading cause of hive loss in the winter.
The bee is equipped to handle a variety of issues, but they begin to struggle when they must face more than one issue at once. Virus in the hive is often the final straw, weakening the hive enough that they are susceptible to invasion, mite infestation, and pesticide related complications.
Our ideal bee has acquired a new behavior involving the creation and distribution of a substance that we have named dura-wax. This substance has two main functions: distribution of antiviral material throughout the hive throughout the year, and increased protection from moisture in the winter.
Worker bees complete different activities based on their age. By including simple involvement in the production of durawax throughout their lifespan, production does not put any additional strain on the hive, and results in distribution of antiviral materials throughout the entire hive, increasing overall health and resilience.
As well as being subtly incorporated into the lifespan of the worker bee, durawax also plays a role in the cycle of activities that occur in the hive throughout the year as they prepare for winter.
1. Early to mid summer: Bees focus on the production of durawax, creating a reserve of the substance in the hive for later.
2. Late summer to fall: Bees redesignate wax glands (which are no longer in use, as wax production ceases after early summer) and begin to store durawax within the body for winter access.
3. Early winter: When temperatures drop and foraging is complete, bees engage in a grooming behavior that involves coating each other's wings in stored durawax. This creates a waterproofing effect, better equipping them to handle the cold.
4. Spring: Bees begin to remove the wax through grooming each other. This also exposes bees to antiviral materials.
The benefit of adding a behavior: As our climate changes, and complications that the bee face increase, adaptability is essential. By adding a behavior rather than a fixed feature, the honeybee is able to utilize durawax based on environmental needs. The addition of a behavior allows for flexibility.
The bee is equipped to handle a variety of issues, but they begin to struggle when they must face more than one issue at once. Virus in the hive is often the final straw, weakening the hive enough that they are susceptible to invasion, mite infestation, and pesticide related complications.
Our ideal bee has acquired a new behavior involving the creation and distribution of a substance that we have named dura-wax. This substance has two main functions: distribution of antiviral material throughout the hive throughout the year, and increased protection from moisture in the winter.
Worker bees complete different activities based on their age. By including simple involvement in the production of durawax throughout their lifespan, production does not put any additional strain on the hive, and results in distribution of antiviral materials throughout the entire hive, increasing overall health and resilience.
- Curation of durawax. 1-3 Days of age.
- The first activity of the bee is the creation of durawax from raw materials gathered by foraging bees. Exposure to this material as a first activity allows the bee to spread the substance throughout the hive in their following life stages.
- Cell Cleaning- Bees ages 3-4 days of age.
- Nursing- 3-12 days of age.
- Wax production 13-18 days of age.
- Foraging- 22-30 days of age
- Foraging for antiviral material. 30-42 days of age.
- The end of the bees lifespan is spent foraging for antiviral materials, which will be brought back to the hive and converted to durawax by young bees.
- Bees have been observed foraging for antiviral substances, such as reishi, polypore mycelia, and herb R. isatidis
As well as being subtly incorporated into the lifespan of the worker bee, durawax also plays a role in the cycle of activities that occur in the hive throughout the year as they prepare for winter.
1. Early to mid summer: Bees focus on the production of durawax, creating a reserve of the substance in the hive for later.
2. Late summer to fall: Bees redesignate wax glands (which are no longer in use, as wax production ceases after early summer) and begin to store durawax within the body for winter access.
3. Early winter: When temperatures drop and foraging is complete, bees engage in a grooming behavior that involves coating each other's wings in stored durawax. This creates a waterproofing effect, better equipping them to handle the cold.
4. Spring: Bees begin to remove the wax through grooming each other. This also exposes bees to antiviral materials.
The benefit of adding a behavior: As our climate changes, and complications that the bee face increase, adaptability is essential. By adding a behavior rather than a fixed feature, the honeybee is able to utilize durawax based on environmental needs. The addition of a behavior allows for flexibility.
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Final Project - Babylon
About Us.
Babylon is a collaborative movement between urban planners, farmers, and beekeepers to create vertical gardens within cities around the United States. Vertical expansion in housing and construction has allowed cities to support ever growing populations without needing to take up large swathes of land. Implementing this same verticalization into our agricultural sector would allow cities to lessen their reliance on traditional monoculture farming while providing sanctuary for vital pollinator populations within city boundaries. Additionally, our farming strategy retrofits otherwise abandoned buildings, allowing us to take advantage of the thousands of vacant properties around the country.
Our Vision.
It is our vision at Babylon to integrate vertical community gardens within cities as a means for mitigating the prevalence of food deserts within the United States. An estimated 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, with many Americans not having easy access to fresh produce even in areas not considered a food desert. By developing vertical gardens in communities within cities, we provide access to affordable fresh produce.
We strive to alleviate food deserts for not only humans within city environments, we also provide food sources for pollinators within these communities. Our farms are equipped with honeybee hives that will allow for the pollination of crops within our gardens. Outside of just our bees, our building is also accessible to outside pollinators through open air areas within our buildings.
Our Process.
Babylon integrates hydroponic farming techniques with in-house honeybee hives in order to create a sustainable system for growing nutritious crops within cities. By utilizing hydroponic techniques, we greatly reduce the amount of space and water required for our crops as hydroponics requires no soil and 98% less water than traditional farming methods. By growing our crops indoors, we also are able to greatly improve the efficiency of our operation. We are able to provide ideal conditions for our crops through careful climate monitoring and nutrition plans which allows us to have yields many times greater than traditional farming methods. Additionally, as we do not have to worry about the heartiness of crops grown in an indoor environment, we are able to grow produce that is significantly more nutritious than their more temperature resistant counterparts.
By having in-house beehives, we are able to address a major issue with current indoor farming operations. Traditionally, indoor farms often import bumblebee populations on a seasonal basis. These bees will pollinate crops, but the bees used have no way of maintaining a sustainable population without a hive. This leads to new bees having to be imported every year in order to pollinate. We circumnavigate this issue by having in-house hives that will be able to pollinate our crops all year round.
Challenges and Considerations.
While Hydroponics is very space efficient and requires significantly less water to operate, there is the indisputable fact that indoor farms require significantly more energy than traditional farms. This can be offset through implementing solar cells on the roofs of these buildings, but this would likely not come close to meeting the entire energy needs of our farms.
We also must contend to the needs and functions of the bees that we keep. Research has shown that honeybees use the sun to navigate and convey the direction of food sources to their hives. We believe that we address this issue by housing the hives in semi-open air courtyard in the center of our buildings. This, in conjunction with the number of windows in our facility should allow our bees to properly navigate the floors of Babylon’s farms.
Another major consideration we must take into account is the profit model for our operations. With the energy usage and the cost to properly maintain the HVAC system for hydroponic farms, pricing the grown produce of the farm to the point where we would break even would be detrimental to the accessibility of our products. To combat this, Babylon operates as a nonprofit organization much in the same way that current city gardens operate. This, along with the fact that the USDA has many grants available for urban agriculture operations, should allow us to keep the cost of our produce affordable.
Lastly, while renovating older buildings saves money and is better for the environment, older buildings have their own share of challenges. Primarily, ensuring that our buildings our insulated enough to support agricultural operations all year round is vital. Not every building can be renovated into a vertical garden, but there are plenty that can.
Babylon is a collaborative movement between urban planners, farmers, and beekeepers to create vertical gardens within cities around the United States. Vertical expansion in housing and construction has allowed cities to support ever growing populations without needing to take up large swathes of land. Implementing this same verticalization into our agricultural sector would allow cities to lessen their reliance on traditional monoculture farming while providing sanctuary for vital pollinator populations within city boundaries. Additionally, our farming strategy retrofits otherwise abandoned buildings, allowing us to take advantage of the thousands of vacant properties around the country.
Our Vision.
It is our vision at Babylon to integrate vertical community gardens within cities as a means for mitigating the prevalence of food deserts within the United States. An estimated 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, with many Americans not having easy access to fresh produce even in areas not considered a food desert. By developing vertical gardens in communities within cities, we provide access to affordable fresh produce.
We strive to alleviate food deserts for not only humans within city environments, we also provide food sources for pollinators within these communities. Our farms are equipped with honeybee hives that will allow for the pollination of crops within our gardens. Outside of just our bees, our building is also accessible to outside pollinators through open air areas within our buildings.
Our Process.
Babylon integrates hydroponic farming techniques with in-house honeybee hives in order to create a sustainable system for growing nutritious crops within cities. By utilizing hydroponic techniques, we greatly reduce the amount of space and water required for our crops as hydroponics requires no soil and 98% less water than traditional farming methods. By growing our crops indoors, we also are able to greatly improve the efficiency of our operation. We are able to provide ideal conditions for our crops through careful climate monitoring and nutrition plans which allows us to have yields many times greater than traditional farming methods. Additionally, as we do not have to worry about the heartiness of crops grown in an indoor environment, we are able to grow produce that is significantly more nutritious than their more temperature resistant counterparts.
By having in-house beehives, we are able to address a major issue with current indoor farming operations. Traditionally, indoor farms often import bumblebee populations on a seasonal basis. These bees will pollinate crops, but the bees used have no way of maintaining a sustainable population without a hive. This leads to new bees having to be imported every year in order to pollinate. We circumnavigate this issue by having in-house hives that will be able to pollinate our crops all year round.
Challenges and Considerations.
While Hydroponics is very space efficient and requires significantly less water to operate, there is the indisputable fact that indoor farms require significantly more energy than traditional farms. This can be offset through implementing solar cells on the roofs of these buildings, but this would likely not come close to meeting the entire energy needs of our farms.
We also must contend to the needs and functions of the bees that we keep. Research has shown that honeybees use the sun to navigate and convey the direction of food sources to their hives. We believe that we address this issue by housing the hives in semi-open air courtyard in the center of our buildings. This, in conjunction with the number of windows in our facility should allow our bees to properly navigate the floors of Babylon’s farms.
Another major consideration we must take into account is the profit model for our operations. With the energy usage and the cost to properly maintain the HVAC system for hydroponic farms, pricing the grown produce of the farm to the point where we would break even would be detrimental to the accessibility of our products. To combat this, Babylon operates as a nonprofit organization much in the same way that current city gardens operate. This, along with the fact that the USDA has many grants available for urban agriculture operations, should allow us to keep the cost of our produce affordable.
Lastly, while renovating older buildings saves money and is better for the environment, older buildings have their own share of challenges. Primarily, ensuring that our buildings our insulated enough to support agricultural operations all year round is vital. Not every building can be renovated into a vertical garden, but there are plenty that can.
