획기적 소형 양봉통 개발한 이탈리아 스타트업 VIDEO; Startup Creates Modern Compact Beehive to Make Beekeeping More Accessible

Interview: Startup Creates Modern Compact Beehive to Make Beekeeping More Accessible

By Jessica Stewart on September 7, 2019

Italian startup Beeing has innovated a compact, modern beehive that makes it easy for anyone to start keeping bees—no matter where they live. With the recent crowdfunding success of their B-box, the company is revolutionizing the way we think about bees by keeping both insects and humans safe.

획기적 소형 양봉통 개발한 이탈리아 스타트업 이탈리아 스타트업 비잉 개발    이탈리아의 스타트업 비잉은 작지만 현대적인 벌집을 혁신하여, 벌들이 어디에 사든 누구나 쉽게 꿀벌을 기르기 시작할 수 있게 했다. 최근 B박스의 크라우드펀딩 성공과 함께 이 회사는 벌에 대한 우리의 사고방식을 곤충과 인간을 모두 안전하게 함으로써 혁명을 일으키고 있다. 도시 발코니든 시골 정원이든 작은 공간에 맞게 디자인된 B박스는 꿀을 수확하는 것을 경험 있는 양봉가나 초보 양봉가 모두에게 간단한 작업으로 만들면서 벌들에게 혜택을 줄 수 있도록 세심하게 꾸며졌다. 진입 장벽을 허물면서, 그들은 더 많은 사람들이 양봉 여행을 시작하고 맛있는 꿀을 얻을 뿐만 아니라 생태계를 돕도록 장려하고 있다. 벌들은 7피트(2.1m) 높이의 굴뚝을 통해 벌집을 드나들며, 보통의 인간들과 잘 거리를 둔다. 투명한 안쪽 벽은 어른과 아이들 모두 가까이 다가가 벌들을 방해하지 않고 보호장구를 착용하지 않고 관찰할 수 있게 해준다. 이렇게 하면 인간과 벌은 아주 작은 4분의 1에도 조화를 이루며 공존할 수 있다. 일부 현대의 양봉장비에 대한 일반적인 불평은 너무 많은 꿀을 한꺼번에 수확할 수 있게 해 벌집의 건강을 해친다는 것이다. 다른 디자인에서 이러한 결함에 대응하기 위해, B-box는 특허 출원 중인 수확실 내에 작은 빗을 보관하여 벌들이 과도한 추출에 시달리지 않도록 한다. 수확 과정 자체도 모든 사람의 이익을 위해 신중하게 생각해 왔다. 간단한 레버를 당기면 누구나 벌들이 수확실에 들어가는 것을 끊을 수 있다. 이 빠르고 효과적인 방법은 특별한 장비 없이 꿀을 추출할 수 있게 해주며, 벌들이 으깨지는 것을 방지해 준다. 꿀을 수확한 후에는 간단히 빗을 교체하고, 보호 덮개를 상단으로 넘기고, 지렛대를 풀어 벌들이 작업을 재개할 수 있게 한다. 현재 인디고에서 주문형으로 구할 수 있는 B-box는 정말로 현대 양봉의 획기적인 것이며 벌과 벌들이 세계에 미치는 영향에 관심을 가진 사람들에 의해 만들어졌다. 우리는 비잉의 설립자이자 CEO인 로베르토 파시와 양봉가 조부모와 함께 자란 그의 어린 시절과 그가 어떻게 이런 열정을 그의 창업에 쏟았는지에 대해 이야기할 기회가 있었다.  황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 큐레이터 Ki Chul Hwang, conpaper editor, curator

edited by kcontents

Designed to fit into small spaces, whether it’s an urban balcony or country garden, B-box has been carefully crafted to benefit the bees while making harvesting honey a simple task for both experienced and novice beekeepers. By breaking down barriers of entry, they’re encouraging more people to begin the beekeeping journey and not only gain delicious honey, but help the ecosystem.

Bees move in and out of the hive via a seven-foot-tall chimney, keeping them well clear of your average human. The transparent inner walls allow both adults and children to get up close and observe the bees without disturbing them and without having to wear protective gear. In this way, humans and bees can live in harmony and co-exist in even the smallest of quarters.

A common complaint about some modern beekeeping equipment is that it allows for too much honey to be harvested at once, causing damage to the health of the hive. To counter this fault in other designs, B-box keeps small combs within its patent-pending harvesting chamber so that the bees don’t suffer from over-extraction. The harvesting process itself has also been carefully thought out for the benefit of everyone.

By pulling a simple lever, anyone can cut off bees from entering the harvesting chamber. This quick, effective method allows for honey extraction without special equipment, and prevents bees from being crushed. Once the honey has been harvested, the comb is simply replaced, the protective cover goes over the top, and the lever is released to allow the bees to resume their work.

Now available on Indiegogo on demand, B-box is truly a breakthrough in modern beekeeping and was created by people who care about bees and their impact on the world. We had the chance to speak with Beeing founder and CEO Roberto Pasi about his childhood growing up with beekeeping grandparents and how he’s poured this passion into his startup. Read on for My Modern Met’s exclusive interview.

What are your earliest memories of working with bees?

When I was 5 years old, I spent a lot of time helping my grandfather who was a beekeeper. I remember the smell of the beeswax, the buzz of the bees, and the colors of fresh grass near the hives. I was completely fascinated by all that. Since then, I have developed a strong interest in the honeybee world.

How did these experiences inspire you in your career?

My past experience as a mentor in the startup field guided me in developing the BEEing project. My idea was to combine beekeeping, which represents my roots, with technological innovation, which is definitively the future. Along with my partner Gabriele, who is a software engineer, we decided to found a start-up which could effectively make the difference by innovating beekeeping. We also invented some IoT tools, which we called IoB–the internet of bees.

B-box has been an evolution over several years. How did you first come up with the idea?

We started to notice that the global interest in bees and beekeeping has grown significantly in recent years. Since we know that nowadays bees are well-comfortable in cities as well as in the countryside, we thought “Why not? Let’s do that!” We developed a new concept of the urban hive which can be used easily by everyone—experienced or not—in any geographical context.

How does the design balance convenience for the beekeeper with what’s best for the bees themselves?

The choice of high-quality materials is certainly B-box’s strong point. Our hive is made of solid red pine and polycarbonate—the same material used for eyeglass lenses. Moreover, B-box’s design is developed bearing in mind the bees’ health and beekeepers’ usability. Our idea behind its design is to bring together humans and bees in harmony. For example, B-box’s special wooden chimney has a 7.2-foot entrance and exit above the ground, which is comfortable both for bees and users. In fact, people can personally observe the hive without disturbing the working honeybees.

What did you learn in your testing phases?

One of the most fascinating aspects of our project has been the design and planning process. From the idea to the prototype status, moving finally to production, this was quite a challenge, but very rewarding. B-box has been designed to combine financial sustainability with high-value creation.

What would you say to novices who are afraid that beekeeping is too complicated?

Anyone, trained or not, can buy any type of beehive and start keeping bees. Our mission is to make beekeeping possible for more people in urban and suburban environments. Of course, we suggest people do extensive research and read up on exactly what it means to be a responsible beekeeper. In addition, everyone who backs B-box will receive a basic beekeeping tutorial and we will personally assist new beekeepers with finding a local, experienced beekeeper to help them on their bee journey.

Why do you think it is important to educate people on bees?

Well, the public’s most common misconception about bees is surely that bees are dangerous. It is not like that. In reality, bees are social insects, really independent. They are completely focused on their incessant work. They are naturally not interested in humans’ activities. Plus, many people confuse bees with wasps, which are entomologically different.

That is the main reason why we strongly believe in our project, which ultimately has the aim of educating more and more people on the importance of bees and beekeeping. Remember that bees are essential to our living, ensuring the balance of the ecosystem.

What’s next after the Indiegogo campaign?

So far we had positive feedback from our community/backers. So we surely want to consolidate the BEEing project in the near future. There is still much to be done, but we are positively convinced that it will have great success. Plus, we want to further develop new products, like IoB, our hardware/software tools. There’ll be lots of new things.

Watch this video to learn more about the B-box urban beehive.

 KCONTENTS