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Genius Company Installs Beehives In Your Living Room, And Here’s How It Works
As you probably know already, the bee population is in a consistent decline and has been for some time, with modern industrial farming methods and loss of habitat being identified causes.
This is bad news for all of us, as bees do the crucial job of pollinating so many of the plants that we rely on for food. In order to counter this, we have to come up with innovative solutions, as we all know how difficult it is to make huge, moneymaking corporations change their damaging practices.
BEEcosystem has created a system of wall-mounted observation hives, that can be easily expanded in a hexagonal, honeycomb style, and even lets you invite the bees into your living room. This concept, bringing bees closer to humans in an urban environment, is not only good for the bee population as a whole, but it increases the understanding of the importance of bees and their role, as we learn to live side-by-side.
The system has been designed with safety in mind, so that even novice bee-keepers can use it with a peace of mind that few other systems offer. Because yeah, we can understand the trepidation that many people, brought up to fear bees and their sting, might have when sitting next to a few thousand of them on the couch.
You can watch the bees in action as they do their amazing work and build up their colony, see how they create honeycomb and beeswax, and even harvest honey if you are feeling hungry. Check out the BEEcosystem in action below, and let us know what you think in the comments!
More info: BEEcosystem
RELATED:
This is the BEEcosystem, a new way to help curb the decline of bees
It matters because of the crucial job they do by pollinating the plants that we rely on for food
So bringing them closer to us and giving them spaces to thrive in urban environments, is crucial
The hexagonal hives can be mounted inside the home
As well as outside
They easily connect together to expand your hive space
The bees come inside through secure tubing that fits through any window
Almost like a ‘cat flap’ for bees
You can watch your busy bees at work from the comfort of your couch
As the colony grows, helping to support the environment
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What do you think ?
PyroarRanger 6 years ago
Hmm, Jill, Emily, Emma, Jillian, Zoey, Clare, Sophie, Sophia, Sam...
Load More Replies...
Zori the degu 6 years ago
The first time I saw something like that was when I went to Vienna's Natural History museum. It's so stunning to see all these bees... And it's even cooler in the real life. Accidents do happen. But then again, bees never attack for no reason. I hold bees in my bare hands from time to time and I'm ok. The only time I got stung was when I accidentally stepped on a bee and I doubt the poor thing did it intentionally. To sum it up, I would love to have one of those beehives at home. I would double check it, though, so there are no surprises for both bees and I.
Load More Replies...
Virginie Michaud 6 years ago
Adding hives is not the right solution because it doesn't address the causes of bee decline. Any attempt at promoting beekeeping as the solution, especially if the message is that it is easy and requires little to no maintenance or skill, should actually be considered bee-washing and is susceptible or causing more harm than good by : - creating a false sense that the problem is being adressed - adding domestic bees in excess of what the already resource poor environment can support - adding more domestic bees, introduced from Europe, that would compete for resources with wild bees - having more colonies with inadequate sanitary management that would spead morw diseases Beekeeping is complex, time consuming and shouldn't be presented as easy or simple. And by the way, a honeycomb always points up and down, otherwise it would collapse. So the design isn't right either 😂
Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
Don't see what you mean by combs pointing up and down. Those ones the bees are building in there are natural combs. The cells point slightly upward from the bottom to the entrance as in pic and are slightly smaller diameter than the cells forced upon bees that are provided with (greedy) human-made embossed foundation. honeycomb-...34e86f.jpg 
Stella Brandner 6 years ago
I don't think having 30,000 to 70,000 bees in your home is a good idea. What if your child rips out the tube while playing? What if that curious dog jumps at the boxes and they break? What if you knock into it while cleaning? Don't they make a lot of noise? What's wrong with beehives outside where they belong? They're animals, not quirky eyecatchers for amateur interior designers. Just.... don't meddle with nature unnecessarily.
Kimberly Robinson 6 years ago
I heard an interesting news story on NPR a few weeks ago where someone was saying that it's the wild bee population we should all be worried about, not the domesticated honey bee population. I am no expert (my 1st grade book report on bees aside), so I don't know what to make of that argument.
Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
It is true but managed honeybees are having a rough time too with neonicotinoids and other harmful pesticides, diseases, insufficient forage - same things that affect the wild bees. And as others have noted, adding more bees to an already overtaxed floral environment does not help and pollinators. Note, in California pesticides and habitat destruction for monoculture almonds means the almonds do not get pollinated unless they move in thousands of honeybee colonies from elsewhere. Damn the price argument - buy organic everything for your own good and for the sake of the Earth's ecosystem.
Load More Replies... Virginie Michaud 6 years ago
The problem is not the lack of bees, it's the quality of the environment. Bees are a sentinel species. The fact that they are declining is a symptom. The causes are the impact of pesticides, the lack of habitat (due to the type of agriculture that occupies most of the landscape : large scale monoculture with little resource for pollinators), diseases that have become global because bees have been moved to and from everywhere to supply pollination services, because of the decline in wild pollinators, because of the lack of habitat and pesticides...
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
I would like to add: Honeybees are not in trouble. They are a domestic agricultural creature support by a billion dollar industry. It's the wild bees that are in BIG trouble and getting into beekeeping to "save the bees" is making the problem much much worse. Adding a hive to a natural area is like sending 50,000 people to a country where the citizens are dying of famine.
Load More Replies... Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
I kept honeybees in regular hives outdoors years ago and see some problems. When the colonies get large such as in the photo with 4 units together - that entrance tube will be totally inadequate to convey the bees in and out. Also, how do they ventilate those units? I see no allowance for that so they would overheat and melt down on a hot day. The only ventilation opportunity I see is through that entry tube which would be inadequate. Ventilation is also required to dry out the nectar for conversion to honey. The four units together in the lower pic and others are photoshopped together - they are the same unit duplicated - look at the identical honeycomb patterns on the glazing. How do you check the brood for disease? Regular hives allow for the frames to be removed to do disease inspections, see queen performance, do varroa checks, etc. One good thing is that they can build natural comb the cells of which are smaller than comb built on foundation used in standard beekeeping.
madcow 3417 6 years ago
This is terrifying. I truly understand the need for helping out bee populations, but this close to home (inside) is a little too much.
d r e a m w o r l d 6 years ago
It's like communism: it's a nice idea, but it could go bad in an instant.
Carole Dose 6 years ago
I'm curious about why every expansion hive is exactly the same. An considering you have to smoke a hive to calm the bees enough to remove their honey, how do you do that inside your house?
Paul Yeanhao 6 years ago
Will be awesome when the bees find a way out and pay the homeowners back.. this will surely qualify for a Darwin Award!
Joan Churton 6 years ago
This is so cool! I wish I had a house to do this. I would have a whole wall of bee hives. When I was a little girl, my mom introduced me to a neighbor that pet bees. She wasn't afraid of them. So I tried it, and they were so fuzzy and precious and I didn't get stung. The bees just kept happily doing their thing and I contentedly kept giggling in amazement,
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Honeybees are NOT in decline - you are saving the WRONG bees! And adding beehives to areas that don't have enough flowers is making the problem worse. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12839/full
Miroslaw Arbszajtys 5 years ago
It does look nice, but... how do you manage your colony in it? How do you inspect them? Let them in to your house? How do you overwinter them? Bees need cold temperature in order to cluster, if too warm they will fly and burn valuable energy without a chance to replenish it with fresh nectar and pollen, which will result in the starvation and during colony in your view:(. I wonder how much does that cost... Im sure it got £££ in mind and not bees. By the way HONEYBEES are not ENDANGERED. Wild bees are but not HONEYBEES!!!
Sharon Hamilton 6 years ago
Sorry , can't see this inside . Can see a dog or cat going for that tube when they hear or see the bees moving inside ‼️ My dog would have in down first day 😂
Chuck McGilbery 6 years ago
I could do that on the patio. They are harmless, not like the mean wasp. Leave them alone and they in turn do the same. I like it.
Sweetleewicked 6 years ago
This is cool, but the problem is that honey bees are not the I ones that are in danger.
Charlie Koenen 6 years ago
Why not host a hive outside in the bee's house rather than putting them into your unnatural indoor environment? Novel idea but not practical... not nice to bees... Too small to properly house colony. Queen not likely to move tween boxes laying brood... Frames are not very interchangeable. Better suited for a southern climate though the colony will swarm often so perhaps not good in urban neighborhoods. The indoor hive is not easily workable and I think they're kinda pricey.
Sarjana Lastname 6 years ago
So long it doesent buzz at my bedroom, noise insulation? Insect pets until ecosystem is repaired, excellent idea. Out wall installation makes garden vivid.
anotherboredpanda 6 years ago
A friend rescued a bee from the Water once. The little thing stayed on her hand and arm, dried itself and flew off After 10 Minutes or so. I watched it and found it rather cute how it cleaned itself. And by the way bees only Sting when they're in great danger and feel threatened. They die when they do
Nikki Mann 6 years ago
We had 200 hives on our farm, while these are cool and I like the ones they have in parks to show kids what bees do...I can just see Omar(he IS huge) my cat tearing the hose and the hive apart in the house! In the field is where they will stay
ivan bolitekurac 6 years ago
So i need to have the tube outside all the time?It just can't be(e) a closed system.If you are eating something that attracts bees in your home you would have a problem because the bees would get out of the tube an fly trough the window in your home.Now you are the one who is trapped inside with bees and the panic starts.No thank you.
Nicky OldfieldDesciple 6 years ago
As Simon Cowell would say after watching an act called "80+ year old Grannies in bikinis doing the can can while one plays the bagpipes", "It's a NO from me".
Rina Dubosarski 6 years ago
Seems like a great idea, till there's a break in any of the indoor portions... Or till you have to be anywhere outside the house.
Joseph Barnett 6 years ago
I have a couple of concerns with this, besides the obvious, "What if the tube gets pulled out or someone bumps into the structure?" I want to know what happens when the 'hive' gets filled up with honeycomb? Does the same company send someone out to clean it out? Also, will it drip (leak) honey, when it's filled up, all over your wall and floor?
Earl Biggums 6 years ago
I live in a place that's cold most of the year....is it a good idea to get this?
ivan bolitekurac 6 years ago
I don't think it is a good idea even if you live in a warm place
Load More Replies... 
Sheri Young-mcbride 6 years ago
It is a nice thought. But at $599.00, it is not practical for a normal person.
Earl Biggums 6 years ago
You can buy the materials for this for about $100 and it would take about 2 days to build....seems like a better option. Then you can hire a company that will just bring the bees.
Load More Replies...
Nya Crea Singer 6 years ago
Aaaand... what if it breaks. Ehm I wouldn't exactly feel safe about having all these bees in my house... in the garden, yes !
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Honeybees are NOT in decline, wild bees are! And by introducing more honeybee hives into areas where there is already not enough to feed our wild bees makes the problem worse.
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Please read this research paper!! "North American honeybee losses are not a conservation problem; rather, they are a domesticated-animal-management problem. By focusing attention on honeybees, policies and funding priorities may undermine native bee conservation and have negative impacts ecologically and socially." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12839/full
Load More Replies... Kimberly Robinson 6 years ago
Harvesting your own honey is cool, in theory. In reality, so much could go wrong, I barely know where to start. I've had an IKEA bookcase sitting in a box for years; I couldn't manage to put it together properly. So, do we want ME hanging up hives for live bees on the walls? No, the universe does not need that, thank you.
HyperBlender 6 years ago
If it had insanely secure safety, YES! But you would have to run lots of test and make it perfect.
Olivia W 6 years ago
Love the idea... but I'd definitely put it on an OUTSIDE wall... a living room full of bees is a bad idea. PS. In South London there is the Horniman Museum. It has a similar thing in one of the rooms. A big glass hive and tubes the bees go through. It's quite cool to look at! If you live in London or are in London you should check it out.
Pearl Sapirstein 6 years ago
Oh they have this at the Children's Museum in my city! Quite amazing, and if a Children's Museum can do this, I'm sure others can too.
Gregorij Sančéz 6 years ago
They should definitely join forces with these guys: https://www.honeyflow.com/ Just imagine having a honeytab inside your home. Two genius ideas together.
Gregorij Sančéz 6 years ago
They should definitely join forces with these guys: https://www.honeyflow.com/ Just imagine having a honeytab inside your home. Two genius ideas together.
Daniel Losinger 6 years ago
I had one of these. But it fell off the wall and I got stung by the bees and had a severe allergic reaction and died.
Chess Wizard 6 years ago
Maybe you should address the fact that your kids are kicking soccer balls around in your house.
Load More Replies...
Chess Wizard 6 years ago
They actually show several times that it can be used outside as well, and your not supposed to collect the honey.
Load More Replies...
PyroarRanger 6 years ago
Hmm, Jill, Emily, Emma, Jillian, Zoey, Clare, Sophie, Sophia, Sam...
Load More Replies... Zori the degu 6 years ago
The first time I saw something like that was when I went to Vienna's Natural History museum. It's so stunning to see all these bees... And it's even cooler in the real life. Accidents do happen. But then again, bees never attack for no reason. I hold bees in my bare hands from time to time and I'm ok. The only time I got stung was when I accidentally stepped on a bee and I doubt the poor thing did it intentionally. To sum it up, I would love to have one of those beehives at home. I would double check it, though, so there are no surprises for both bees and I.
Load More Replies... Virginie Michaud 6 years ago
Adding hives is not the right solution because it doesn't address the causes of bee decline. Any attempt at promoting beekeeping as the solution, especially if the message is that it is easy and requires little to no maintenance or skill, should actually be considered bee-washing and is susceptible or causing more harm than good by : - creating a false sense that the problem is being adressed - adding domestic bees in excess of what the already resource poor environment can support - adding more domestic bees, introduced from Europe, that would compete for resources with wild bees - having more colonies with inadequate sanitary management that would spead morw diseases Beekeeping is complex, time consuming and shouldn't be presented as easy or simple. And by the way, a honeycomb always points up and down, otherwise it would collapse. So the design isn't right either 😂
Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
Don't see what you mean by combs pointing up and down. Those ones the bees are building in there are natural combs. The cells point slightly upward from the bottom to the entrance as in pic and are slightly smaller diameter than the cells forced upon bees that are provided with (greedy) human-made embossed foundation. honeycomb-...34e86f.jpg
Stella Brandner 6 years ago
I don't think having 30,000 to 70,000 bees in your home is a good idea. What if your child rips out the tube while playing? What if that curious dog jumps at the boxes and they break? What if you knock into it while cleaning? Don't they make a lot of noise? What's wrong with beehives outside where they belong? They're animals, not quirky eyecatchers for amateur interior designers. Just.... don't meddle with nature unnecessarily.
Kimberly Robinson 6 years ago
I heard an interesting news story on NPR a few weeks ago where someone was saying that it's the wild bee population we should all be worried about, not the domesticated honey bee population. I am no expert (my 1st grade book report on bees aside), so I don't know what to make of that argument.
Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
It is true but managed honeybees are having a rough time too with neonicotinoids and other harmful pesticides, diseases, insufficient forage - same things that affect the wild bees. And as others have noted, adding more bees to an already overtaxed floral environment does not help and pollinators. Note, in California pesticides and habitat destruction for monoculture almonds means the almonds do not get pollinated unless they move in thousands of honeybee colonies from elsewhere. Damn the price argument - buy organic everything for your own good and for the sake of the Earth's ecosystem.
Load More Replies... Virginie Michaud 6 years ago
The problem is not the lack of bees, it's the quality of the environment. Bees are a sentinel species. The fact that they are declining is a symptom. The causes are the impact of pesticides, the lack of habitat (due to the type of agriculture that occupies most of the landscape : large scale monoculture with little resource for pollinators), diseases that have become global because bees have been moved to and from everywhere to supply pollination services, because of the decline in wild pollinators, because of the lack of habitat and pesticides...
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
I would like to add: Honeybees are not in trouble. They are a domestic agricultural creature support by a billion dollar industry. It's the wild bees that are in BIG trouble and getting into beekeeping to "save the bees" is making the problem much much worse. Adding a hive to a natural area is like sending 50,000 people to a country where the citizens are dying of famine.
Load More Replies... Larry Cosgrave 6 years ago
I kept honeybees in regular hives outdoors years ago and see some problems. When the colonies get large such as in the photo with 4 units together - that entrance tube will be totally inadequate to convey the bees in and out. Also, how do they ventilate those units? I see no allowance for that so they would overheat and melt down on a hot day. The only ventilation opportunity I see is through that entry tube which would be inadequate. Ventilation is also required to dry out the nectar for conversion to honey. The four units together in the lower pic and others are photoshopped together - they are the same unit duplicated - look at the identical honeycomb patterns on the glazing. How do you check the brood for disease? Regular hives allow for the frames to be removed to do disease inspections, see queen performance, do varroa checks, etc. One good thing is that they can build natural comb the cells of which are smaller than comb built on foundation used in standard beekeeping.
madcow 3417 6 years ago
This is terrifying. I truly understand the need for helping out bee populations, but this close to home (inside) is a little too much.
d r e a m w o r l d 6 years ago
It's like communism: it's a nice idea, but it could go bad in an instant.
Carole Dose 6 years ago
I'm curious about why every expansion hive is exactly the same. An considering you have to smoke a hive to calm the bees enough to remove their honey, how do you do that inside your house?
Paul Yeanhao 6 years ago
Will be awesome when the bees find a way out and pay the homeowners back.. this will surely qualify for a Darwin Award!
Joan Churton 6 years ago
This is so cool! I wish I had a house to do this. I would have a whole wall of bee hives. When I was a little girl, my mom introduced me to a neighbor that pet bees. She wasn't afraid of them. So I tried it, and they were so fuzzy and precious and I didn't get stung. The bees just kept happily doing their thing and I contentedly kept giggling in amazement,
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Honeybees are NOT in decline - you are saving the WRONG bees! And adding beehives to areas that don't have enough flowers is making the problem worse. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12839/full
Miroslaw Arbszajtys 5 years ago
It does look nice, but... how do you manage your colony in it? How do you inspect them? Let them in to your house? How do you overwinter them? Bees need cold temperature in order to cluster, if too warm they will fly and burn valuable energy without a chance to replenish it with fresh nectar and pollen, which will result in the starvation and during colony in your view:(. I wonder how much does that cost... Im sure it got £££ in mind and not bees. By the way HONEYBEES are not ENDANGERED. Wild bees are but not HONEYBEES!!!
Sharon Hamilton 6 years ago
Sorry , can't see this inside . Can see a dog or cat going for that tube when they hear or see the bees moving inside ‼️ My dog would have in down first day 😂
Chuck McGilbery 6 years ago
I could do that on the patio. They are harmless, not like the mean wasp. Leave them alone and they in turn do the same. I like it.
Sweetleewicked 6 years ago
This is cool, but the problem is that honey bees are not the I ones that are in danger.
Charlie Koenen 6 years ago
Why not host a hive outside in the bee's house rather than putting them into your unnatural indoor environment? Novel idea but not practical... not nice to bees... Too small to properly house colony. Queen not likely to move tween boxes laying brood... Frames are not very interchangeable. Better suited for a southern climate though the colony will swarm often so perhaps not good in urban neighborhoods. The indoor hive is not easily workable and I think they're kinda pricey.
Sarjana Lastname 6 years ago
So long it doesent buzz at my bedroom, noise insulation? Insect pets until ecosystem is repaired, excellent idea. Out wall installation makes garden vivid.
anotherboredpanda 6 years ago
A friend rescued a bee from the Water once. The little thing stayed on her hand and arm, dried itself and flew off After 10 Minutes or so. I watched it and found it rather cute how it cleaned itself. And by the way bees only Sting when they're in great danger and feel threatened. They die when they do
Nikki Mann 6 years ago
We had 200 hives on our farm, while these are cool and I like the ones they have in parks to show kids what bees do...I can just see Omar(he IS huge) my cat tearing the hose and the hive apart in the house! In the field is where they will stay
ivan bolitekurac 6 years ago
So i need to have the tube outside all the time?It just can't be(e) a closed system.If you are eating something that attracts bees in your home you would have a problem because the bees would get out of the tube an fly trough the window in your home.Now you are the one who is trapped inside with bees and the panic starts.No thank you.
Nicky OldfieldDesciple 6 years ago
As Simon Cowell would say after watching an act called "80+ year old Grannies in bikinis doing the can can while one plays the bagpipes", "It's a NO from me".
Rina Dubosarski 6 years ago
Seems like a great idea, till there's a break in any of the indoor portions... Or till you have to be anywhere outside the house.
Joseph Barnett 6 years ago
I have a couple of concerns with this, besides the obvious, "What if the tube gets pulled out or someone bumps into the structure?" I want to know what happens when the 'hive' gets filled up with honeycomb? Does the same company send someone out to clean it out? Also, will it drip (leak) honey, when it's filled up, all over your wall and floor?
Earl Biggums 6 years ago
I live in a place that's cold most of the year....is it a good idea to get this?
ivan bolitekurac 6 years ago
I don't think it is a good idea even if you live in a warm place
Load More Replies... Sheri Young-mcbride 6 years ago
It is a nice thought. But at $599.00, it is not practical for a normal person.
Earl Biggums 6 years ago
You can buy the materials for this for about $100 and it would take about 2 days to build....seems like a better option. Then you can hire a company that will just bring the bees.
Load More Replies... Nya Crea Singer 6 years ago
Aaaand... what if it breaks. Ehm I wouldn't exactly feel safe about having all these bees in my house... in the garden, yes !
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Honeybees are NOT in decline, wild bees are! And by introducing more honeybee hives into areas where there is already not enough to feed our wild bees makes the problem worse.
Sandy Gillians 6 years ago
Please read this research paper!! "North American honeybee losses are not a conservation problem; rather, they are a domesticated-animal-management problem. By focusing attention on honeybees, policies and funding priorities may undermine native bee conservation and have negative impacts ecologically and socially." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12839/full
Load More Replies... Kimberly Robinson 6 years ago
Harvesting your own honey is cool, in theory. In reality, so much could go wrong, I barely know where to start. I've had an IKEA bookcase sitting in a box for years; I couldn't manage to put it together properly. So, do we want ME hanging up hives for live bees on the walls? No, the universe does not need that, thank you.
HyperBlender 6 years ago
If it had insanely secure safety, YES! But you would have to run lots of test and make it perfect.
Olivia W 6 years ago
Love the idea... but I'd definitely put it on an OUTSIDE wall... a living room full of bees is a bad idea. PS. In South London there is the Horniman Museum. It has a similar thing in one of the rooms. A big glass hive and tubes the bees go through. It's quite cool to look at! If you live in London or are in London you should check it out.
Pearl Sapirstein 6 years ago
Oh they have this at the Children's Museum in my city! Quite amazing, and if a Children's Museum can do this, I'm sure others can too.
Gregorij Sančéz 6 years ago
They should definitely join forces with these guys: https://www.honeyflow.com/ Just imagine having a honeytab inside your home. Two genius ideas together.
Gregorij Sančéz 6 years ago
They should definitely join forces with these guys: https://www.honeyflow.com/ Just imagine having a honeytab inside your home. Two genius ideas together.
Daniel Losinger 6 years ago
I had one of these. But it fell off the wall and I got stung by the bees and had a severe allergic reaction and died.
Chess Wizard 6 years ago
Maybe you should address the fact that your kids are kicking soccer balls around in your house.
Load More Replies... Chess Wizard 6 years ago
They actually show several times that it can be used outside as well, and your not supposed to collect the honey.
Load More Replies... 
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