Liam Brankin

I wanted to undertake a project with the opportunity to provide innovation that would be beneficial to New Zealanders. Beekeeping arose from an awareness of both the ecological and economic impact honeybees have on the environment. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is becoming an ever-increasing concern throughout the industry. Natural biological occurrences like swarming are now threatened due to CCD. As beekeeping is becoming an increasingly popular activity, I decided to pursue a product that assists and motivates beekeeping hobbyists to recollect swarms. The Swarmstorm is a backpack that functions as an accessory to a household vacuum in an attempt to keep costs low. The decision to incorporate cardboard into my design was elected with sustainability in mind: all areas that come in direct contact with the swarm are single use and intended to be burnt after the swarm is rehoused to avoid cross-contamination.