James Edmonds

James Edmonds – Apis Adyta

Wood, aluminium – $1,330.00

James Edmonds - Apis Adyta sculpture park at Wharepuke Kerikeri NZ

Over the last two years I have become increasingly alarmed by reports in various media of the dire plight of the honey bee… colony collapse disorder, varroa mite, habitat degredation, and pesticide contamination jeopardising the role they play as pollinators in global food production.

James Edmonds - Apis Adyta
James Edmonds – Apis Adyta

 I thought about how I could collaborate with a colony of bees at home; provide them a house, all the pollen-nectar they could want in return have gardens and orchard tended.  Anaphalaxis rules out conventional bee keeping for me, so a hive enclosure eliminating human intervention was the main concern.  “Apis Adyta” is based on recognisable Langstroth hive components reduced in scale to create optimum bee spaces of 40 litres. Designed without internal frames, comb and honey produced naturally cannot be harvested. These painted boxes may remain a mute testament to shrinking biota, but my hope is they will attract attention and multiply along with bees, into more garden spaces.