Structural innovation in hive construction hasn't moved on greatly since 1852, apparently.
By favouring the standardised box hive, beekeeping turns its back on 4,400 years of architectural diversity. Hives: A Visual History of the Beehive focuses on that period of history prior to homogenisation, drawing from as far back as 2400 BC. By rejecting a fixed narrative, linearity makes way for polymorphism, introducing graphic design, photography and writing to retell the story of beehives, offering a glimpse into this proliferous history of architecture for non-humans.
This book is a fragment of an ongoing and open-ended research project titled 'Apian' which uses theoretical, iconographic and ethnographic methods to research on the relationship between bees and humans.
RVB Books, 348pp, 11cm x 15.5cm, paperback, 375 photographs