As cities grow and bee populations continue to dwindle, designers are increasingly looking for ways to bring nature to urban areas. In celebration of World Bee Day, we've rounded up seven urban shelters for the vital insects. More
IKEA's research lab Space10 has developed a series of open-source bee homes that anyone can design themselves for free before having it made using a CNC machine. More
French designer Marlène Huissoud asks humans to "Please Stand By" with her first chairs, which are designed to be refuges for insects. More
IKEA worked with UK artists and designers to create this series of animal habitats, repurposed from the company's used furniture. More
Dutch designer Matilde Boelhouwer has designed a series of artificial flowers that turn rain into sugar water, to serve as emergency food sources for city-dwelling insect pollinators. More
Mexico-based creative studio MaliArts has designed a series of three structures for solitary bees living in built-up areas to help welcome nature into urban environments. More
A glucose-rich paper touted as an "energy drink for bees" could help prevent the endangered insects dying of exhaustion as they search for flowers. More
US supermarket giant Walmart is seeking to patent technology that would see drones pollinate crops like bees. More
Brisbane-based artist Michael Candy has proposed a method of artificial pollination using 3D-printed robotic flowers, in a bid to help increase the dwindling bee population. More
Designer and researcher Neri Oxman's Mediated Matter group at MIT Media Lab has designed an artificial apiary that creates a constant spring-like environment for bees. More
This wooden beehive by Italian designer Francesco Faccin has a 4.5-metre chimney to keep its inhabitants away from children and vandals (+ movie). More
Norwegian architecture studio Snøhetta has designed a series of wooden hives for the roof of an Oslo food court to encourage bees to take up residence in the city (+ slideshow). More
Writer Geoff Manaugh and designer John Becker have imagined a scenario in which genetically modified bees could be trained to print detailed concrete structures rather than produce honey (+ interview). More
Design graduate Bettina Madita Böhm has created a cylindrical concrete beehive for urban beekeepers to use on the roofs of city buildings. More
Dutch Design Week 2013: Portuguese designer Susana Soares has developed a device for detecting cancer and other serious diseases using trained bees ( + slideshow). More
News: a designer who developed a technique for harnessing bees to create physical objects has accused a major brand of exploiting his work. More
High-rise living is no longer just for people. A team of architecture students from the University at Buffalo has recently constructed a skyscraper for a colony of bees (+ slideshow). More
Architecture student Ben Kirk has designed conceptual towers to replace the fast-declining bee population by shooting artificial pollinators into the air. More
Tomáš Gabzdil Libertiny of Studio Libertiny has sent us images of his new series of Honeycomb Vases, which are made by bees. Update: this project is included in Dezeen Book of Ideas, which is on sale now for £12. More
Milan update: Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny of Studio Libertiny has sent us another photo of his extraordinary vase made by bees. More
