The purpose of the ideal bee project was to theorize and demonstrate a physical modification to the Honey Bee that would help improve its viability and potentially reduce the instance of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). For our project, the group attempted to address the needs of both the individual bees, and agricultural interests. The theorized modification centered on the middle set of legs. Through adding a pollen press and hook to the middle leg, our group theorized honeybees would now be able to form four pollen sacs versus the previous two. The addition of these sacs would allow the bees to visit more flowers and bring more pollen into the hive. This would make the bees more efficient pollinators and allow them to more readily survive times a scarcity by living on larger stores. One additionally are explored was the ability for the bees to carry this additional weight. Currently, the carrying capacity of bees would allow them to carry a majority of the additional weight. Our group hypothesized that with the evolution of the second hook and press, the flight muscles would slowly evolve to be stronger. Additionally, the bees could strengthen those muscles in their lifetime by slowly increasing the size of the second pollen sac. The biggest lesson from the project was the experience leveraging the skills of team members. I had strengths in laser cutting, but none in poster design, sewing, or adobe. As a team, being able to assign parts of the project that were in line with skill sets allowed us to accomplish tasks on schedule and to a higher level of craftsmanship. |