Stingless Bee Condo

The Stingless Bee Condo is Derbien’s first commercial product. Based on the traditional box hive design, we have implemented a list of optimizations.

Sliding door mechanism

The front of the Stingless Bee Condo is equipped with a sliding door mechanism that let’s you switch between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ settings. This has proven highly useful for safe transport of colonies, inspection, or during seminars and trainings.

Ventilation screen

The ‘closed’ setting of the sliding door doesn’t seal the hive shut, but instead blocks the entrance with a breathable metal screen that allows for continued airflow, thereby assuring that colonies do not suffocate even during longer transports or at other times that require extended closure of hives.

Exit tube

In front of the sliding door, the Stingless Bee Condo is equipped with a prolonged exit tube. The distance created between front plate of the hive and the actual exit prevents the bees from attaching their propolis exit tunnel directly to the front wall of the hive. This assures that the sliding door remains functional.

Acrylic inspection window

Traditional stingless bee hives are covered with a transparent foil. We have replaced this with a sheet of acrylic/plexiglass which allows for better observation, a neat appearance and keeps the bees from chewing secondary exits.

Advanced manufacturing methods

The hive is built from a PLA ‘scaffolding’ that holds the plywood walls in place. The scaffolding is 3D printed, while all walls and the the top window are produced using modern laser-cutting. This allows for high precision, in turn letting us standardize hive volumes and dimensions in the millimeter scale.