For the Ideal Bee Project we were challenged to come up with an idea to alter a honey bee for it's betterment, even if the alteration is not physically possible. Then we designed and created a 3D prototype of the bee. My group focused on changing some of the biology of the bee so that it would be more resistant towards pesticides and mites. This seemed to be a common theme throughout the groups.
We proposed adding a sac to the bee that would act like a kidney, but would filter out toxins within pesticides. We also wanted to add enzymes (that other insects like flies have!) to the bees so that this detoxification could take place. We also adjusted the bee's stinger to be attached to this sac with extra protein-scaffolding, rather than to its vital organs, so that the bee would not die when it stings a mammal. Lastly, we reinforced the veins of the wings to be stronger and less susceptible to the effects of the Deformed Wing Virus caused by mites.
I really enjoyed created a low fidelity prototype of our project before we delved right into designing the final project. This gave us an opportunity to talk as a group and ideate possibilities. We had so many resources at the 1819 Innovation Hub Ground Floor that it was almost overwhelming to decide on a method of prototyping. One of our first ideas was to 3D print a mold to pour clear resin into in order to suspend a wooden ball which represented the sac. When I went to 3D print the mold I discovered that this method would not work. The 3D print was not water tight and the resin would get to such a high temperature that it would both leak through the 3D print and melt it. So we changed our model to create an indent to glue the wooden sac into.
I brought our bee home with me and had a photo shoot with it! I took a photography class a few semesters ago, and I am always looking for opportunities to grow in my photography skills. I set up a still life with our 3D model, a globe, and some fake flowers. Bees are so vital to the world's ecosystem. While a plastic/wooden bee might seem out of place next to a globe and flowers, in reality they are all connected. We depend on bees to pollinate flowers so that our food can grow.
I also included the poster we used to present!