A BEEKEEPER’S CLAMP
A TOOL
SOLO PROJECT | 2 WEEKS | CO-DESIGN WITH THE USER | 2020
The survival of the bee, domestic or wild, is more in focus than ever.
At the same time, beekeeping has become more difficult because new bee diseases emerged in the past decades. Beekeepers need to check bee hives regularly to ensure the bee families are healthy.
This project was co-designed with a user.
Beekeeper Ruth contributed both as an expert of beekeeping and an expert of her needs as a user.
HMW: How can I design a tool that would make it easier to separate the weighty honeycomb frames apart, detach them from the hive (bees glue them down) and pull them up for weekly inspection or yearly harvest: a frame lifter clamp?
Design criteria:
- Easy to clean
- No fast movement
- Ergonomic
- One-hand operated
- Affordable
- Separates and pulls up the frames
- Works with most common frame dimensions
Will be continued and iterated.