American-Israeli architect and designer Neri Oxman has created a synthetic apiary to study how honey bees build comb structures and operate within a hive.
Designed in collaboration with The Mediated Matter Group, the Synthetic Apiary II allows researchers to track and monitor the behaviour of bees using computational tools.
In the first story of her Dezeen 15 guest editorship, which also saw her share a manifesto with Dezeen's readers, American-Israeli architect and designer Oxman presents the Synthetic Apiary II.
The structure is being introduced by Oxman today as part of her Dezeen 15 guest editorship, which will also see her join Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs in a live interview at 4:00pm London time.
Synthetic Apiary II builds on the work of Synthetic Apiary I, which Oxman and The Mediated Matter Group created in 2016. Through studying the bees and their honeycomb structure creations, researchers are able to gather insights into how designed environments might be used in human architecture and design.

To Bee or Not to Bee
Synthetic Apiary II by Neri Oxman and The Mediated Matter Group
Global biodiversity is declining faster than ever before, with an unprecedented one million species on our planet currently at risk of extinction. Perhaps most alarming is the massive decline in bees worldwide, due to various factors affecting their health such as agricultural chemicals, disease, and habitat loss.
Like silkworms, honey bees, including Apis mellifera, are incredibl...