VISUALISATION

CHALLENGES

As a retiree on a hobby farm, I am determined to produce my own food and reduce energy  consumption as much as I can.

About a year ago I learned of a wonderful beehive invention that makes extraction of honey from the  hive easy and harmless to both humans and bees. Without going into technical details, I will just  mention that the honey extraction process in this new type of hive, does not involve disassembly of  any major part of the hive (the “super” box which is where the bees store the honey) so the bees are  calm throughout the entire process. However, the process also requires delicate pouring of the honey  from the internal frames into jars (located on a shelf outside the hive) while tilting the hive in 5  degrees backward so the honey will flow into the back of the lower chamber of each frame. On the  other hand, regularly, the hive should be slightly tilted forward to prevent rain entering the bee’s  entrance. Also, beekeeping requires regular observations and health checks of the “brood” frames  (where the bees raise the new generation) as well as winter feeding of the bees.

Overall, the challenges are frequent: Delicate work on hives that are located in difficult topography in  bushland prone to bushfires and infested with termites (the hive is made of timber) and other insects  (Australia). Thus, ideally the hive should be installed high above the ground on a multi-purpose  resistant legs, yet stable frame.  I may add that when the “brood” and “super” boxes are full of bees  and honey they weigh quite a lot.

SELECTION

My weekly routine includes swimming sessions (very boring) during which I practice my visualisation  capabilities to design engineering solutions for my projects, be they large or small. In that process I  manage to “see” the end product and even detailed parts, relevant sizes and the process of  fabrication. I also think about cost effective methods for potential commercial fabrication. I always plan  to build a prototype to test the efficiency and effectiveness of my imaginative visualisation.

For the above challenge I decided to build a steel frame from square hollow sections reinforced in  heavier steel at the bottom of the legs. The initial design was made a simple ‘coffee table’ like bottom  frame with top frame that can rock forward/backward on 2 centre hinges. This design would achieve  resistance to fires, termites, keep the centre of gravity (CG) low for stability and lift the hive high  enough to enable easy work on both the “brood” and “super” boxes.

APPLICATION

Building a simple frame as described above was relatively straight forward process. I draft a sketch of  the concept design on paper and then added dimensions by measuring the hive (in 3 dimensions),  adding comfortable working height to the bottom legs (and other ergonomic features), as well as a  rough calculation of the centre of gravity and I added horizontal steel plates to the bottom of the legs  to compensate for the rough terrain.

After I built the prototype I had to ask a friend (who is a professional bee keeper) to help me put the  hive on the frame since it was too heavy for one person. Then we also tested the application of the  top “rocking” frame which was working perfectly. We managed to check the health of the hive  (relatively complicated process ) while the top frame was tilted forward and then tilt the top frame  backward to extract the honey.

At the end of the day I received good feedback from my friend who gave me initial guidelines for the  project and set the bench mark for practical success.

INSIGHT

While we were testing the first frame that I built, I realised that the frame could have been built  differently and with few more features added to the original design. The test of the prototype achieved  the original bench mark but it wasn’t elegant enough: I realised that the hinges between the top frame  and bottom stand were not as robust as I initially thought and the tilting process was too cumbersome.

Generally, the process of visualisation of an engineering project is very effective in my case since  there’s no “background noise”. I don’t have any interruptions from the environment of prolonged  periods of concentration. I manage to ‘visualise’ scenarios in other planning activities i.e. meetings  with family members (which may be awkward at any given time) and/or friends. I plan via visualisation  (usually while swimming) detailed travel itineraries after elaborate studies of routes, destinations,  flight/accommodation logistics, etc.

Yet, with all the above said and extensive experience gained, it’s obvious to me that good  visualisation capabilities are never enough unless ‘visualised concept’ is tested: From vision to  drafting, fabrication and prototyping; or despite imagining the perfect meeting so as to be ready for  surprises even when adhering to all relevant “rules & regulations”; and visualising the ideal travel  plan, including the need accommodate unexpected impediments; things often turn out differently in  their experiencing. Obviously, the human factor increases uncertainties even in the best visualisation  process.

APPROACH

Hence, in the next few swimming sessions (where most of my creative visualisation occurs), I  “designed” a new version of the hive stand: Instead of top rocking frame I used the bottom stand as  regular base to the hive and use telescopic square sections that protrude from the bottom legs  upward at the front of the hive to tilt it backward. The mechanism that lifts up the tandem telescopic  sections is located in the middle of the frame between the 4 legs and is accessible from the back of  the stand – away from the bee’s flight path.

I also added simple features to enable supports for “brood” frames when conducting health checks to  the hive. Clearly, the second prototype is more expensive due to more complicated fabrication and  assembly processes but eventually more sophisticated and elegant to use. Basically, in the honey  extraction process, all the user needs to do is to set the jars in place, push a lever to tilt the hive and  the honey will flow.

