Vessels of Care and Control: The Hivecubator 2.0

Michael Bianco

Do bees have the potential to sustain human life?

At a time where human lifestyle threatens the extinction of the honey bee, Hivecubator 2.0 highlights our interdependence with these remarkable insects.

Developed in parallel with the Compostcubator 2.0, this DIY incubator is surrounded by a beehive. The Hivecubator will harness the heat generated by a colony of urban bees to power the incubator to grow and sustain human skin cells.

Peer into the hive to see the bees at work, and watch their activity increase as winter turns to spring.

The form of the installation is inspired by the Ancient Egyptian Temple of the Sun, the site of the first known representation of beekeeping.

The Compostcubator 2.0 and the Hivecubator 2.0 draw attention to the potential of natural organisms to power medical equipment such as incubators, needed for cutting-edge cell research.