Further proof that urban honey harvesting is on the rise points to a concept design by Philips which takes the quaintness of the emergent small batch, urban bee keeping scene and reduces it to its most quaint and smallest of the smallest applications: The Urban (indoor) Beehive.

Yes. Indoor. But don’t let that scare you. They’ve designed such a clever device, you’ve few chances of stung. Here’s how it works: The hive itself consists of two separate parts: one an entry passage with a flower pot that sits on the outside wall (to attract the little suckers) and on the inside wall, a Aliens 3-looking glass vessel housing an plethora of honeycomb frames for the bees to nestle into, build their wax cells and start working. In keeping with established practices in beekeeping, smoke is released thru a pull-string at the bottom of the hive which calms the bees down before you open the vessel and extract your sweet reward.

While this is only in the concept stage currently, it shines light on a move towards our Future Sign: Pastoral Life, with its return to simplistic methods that allow for self-sufficiency and leave less impact on the earth. If this slicker version of home harvesting works for honey, there’s no reason it wouldn’t catch on in other ways (brewing, soap making, publishing, etc, etc). The DIY nature of it alone is enough to warrant attention. Philips is way ahead of the pack on this one.

Here’s to a sweet future.

Links to consider: http://bit.ly/qv5IRZ