Royal College of Art graduate Ben Faga is encouraging bees in London to swarm and set up new hives.

Top: Peckham Bait-Hive  (51.47°, -0.05°)
Above: Hackney City Farm Bait-Hive (51.53°, -0.05°)

Called If You Build it, They Will Come… the project involves installing boxes Faga calls bait-hives within five kilometres of an existing hive and using a specially-developed chemical to attract the bees.

Above: Stoke Newington Bait-Hive (51.55°, -0.07°)

Faga mixed this substance from essential oils, beeswax and the pheromones of a queen bee.

Above: Freightliners Farm Bait-Hive (51.56°, -0.07°)

Here's some more information from the designer:

If you build it, they will come…

This project interrogates the border between fear and hope of an event and the prosaic preparations surrounding the possible event. I have created a series of vessels that attract swarming bees, called bait-hives.

Above: Vauxhall City Farm Bait-Hive (51.48°, -0.09°)

The vessels contain a custom designed bee attractant that I have created by taking the queens pheromone and mixing it with various essential oils and beeswax. This mixture attracts bees from up to 5 kilometers, engaging their swarming instinct encouraging them to leave their current hive to take residence in my bait-hives.

Above and below: on the roof of Rough Luxe hotel (see our earlier story)

In attempts to expand my current apiary, I have set up a network of bait-hive hosts throughout London. The hosts were selected due to their proximity to current beehives, making it very likely that, one day, 20,000+ bees will swarm into the space to inhabit the hive.

This scenario forces the bait-hive hosts to confront their comfort level with this object. Do they want to attract a swarm to their space? Are they excited or scared of the prospect of living so close to a swarm of bees?

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