Invented by Anna Haldewang, an industrial design student at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia (SCAD), Plan Bee is essentially a drone designed to replicate the cross-pollination performed by honeybees and bumblebees. The prototype can fit in the palm of your hand, and is made from a lightweight, flower-shaped foam body that holds onto the bee’s color pattern. Each of the drone’s six sections has tiny holes through which the device retrieves pollen from a flower when hovering over it. The pollen is then stored in the body cavity before it’s expelled for cross-pollination. Continue reading for more pictures and information.
“You need sun, water, soil and cross-pollination for that to happen. I had no idea about the danger to honeybee colonies and that bees were disappearing. When you flip it upside down, it looks like a flower. I would love to see people use it in their backyards and even create custom gardens with it. With an actual bee, its so small you don’t notice it and how it’s pollinating flowers. With the drone you can see how the process works,” said Haldewang.
