While the health effects of honey are well-researched and thoroughly documented, harvesting honey has long been the domain of professional beekeepers and apiarists, due to the time-consuming and expensive nature of the project.
And while many people want to find ways to encourage and protect their local pollinators, especially in the face of the devastating Colony Collapse Disorder plaguing many species of pollinators worldwide, the technology necessary to do so simply hasn’t been accessible to them – until now.
A revolutionary new project, funded by a wildly successful crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo – they raised over 6 million dollars, literally millions more than their initial, relatively modest goal of 70,000 – seeks to put the power of beekeeping in the hands of consumers.
Father-Son Team
The Flow Hive, an invention of father-son team Stuart and Cedar Anderson, relies on simple construction and the natural pull of gravity to gently harvest honey from pre-constructed beehives without disturbing the bees living in the hive. It’s a step beyond traditional honey harvesting, which requires that bee populations be sedated with smoke in order for apiarists to collect honeycombs from their hives.
![Flow™ Hive Full Reveal [Original crowdfunding video 2015]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WbMV9qYIXqM/0.jpg)
Cedar Anderson encourages all potential apiarists interested in putting the Flow Hive system to use to consult with their local beekeepers “The Flow Hive still requires beekeepers to know what they’re doing,” the young inventor stresses.
Harvest Your Own Organic Honey
But the accessible nature of the Flow Hive has captured the attention of many amateur beekeepers hoping to harvest their own raw, organic honey from their own Flow Hives. With over 14,000 individual “backers” – investors who have pledged anywhere from 20 to 600 dollars in support of the project – the Andersons are preparing to manufacture and ship thousands of ready-to-use Flow Hives to hopeful apiarists all over the world.
Want To Get In On The Action?
Look into finding out more about your local pollinator populations; not all pollinators produce honey, and the ones that don’t are just as in need of support as the ones that do.
If you can’t afford the 600 dollar pledge to receive your own Flow Hive, helping support your local pollinator population can be as simple as building a bee-friendly garden and buying locally-sourced, organic honey instead of processed supermarket honey.
The message of the Flow Hive project that people clearly find inspiring is the message that they, as individuals, can help support local bee populations – and reap a tasty, healthy reward in the process.
While the Andersons say that they make no claims about their project saving the world, it’s hard to deny that inspiring people to keep local, ethically-sourced and healthy bee populations is a step forward for beekeeping – and a step forward for beekeeping is a step forward for the entire agricultural industry.
sources:
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/264667.php
- https://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/downloads/Pollinator_Guide_5pg.pdf
- https://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/food-and-our-planet/create-a-bee-friendly-garden/
- https://www.fws.gov/pollinators/pollinatorpages/yourhelp.html
- https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130510-honeybee-bee-science-european-union-pesticides-colony-collapse-epa-science/
- https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-your-beehive
- https://www.honeyflow.com/ https://www.beeculture.com/directory/find-local-beekeeper/