Hello from California

[Ravenwing]

Greetings,
Bees are an area of interest of mine as I have been an organic gardener since college days.
I teach art and photography at a local high school.
My students are very interested in the environment and one is doing his senior project on beekeeping.
He is working with a local beekeeper who is teaching him the art. And my student is teaching me what he is learning.

We talked about how we could use a new piece of technology we just got--a 3D printer--to make something for bees. Maybe a trap for wild bees?  It needs to be something small or modular. Or we could combine wood and 3D printed parts to make a larger object like a small hive box.

I know most hives are plain wood boxes, but perhaps this is an opportunity to make something more artistic.
If anyone has some input, let me know and I will pass it on to the students.
Ravenwing

[Maggiesdad]

Welcome to Beemaster!

Swarm traps are ideally sized around 40 liters, so that's a little large... But he could design and print queen cages, or queen cell cups for queen rearing frames - that would seem entirely feasible.

Plus by getting into queen rearing, it ensures he delves deeper into beekeeping and sticks with it through several seasons! 

[BeeMaster2]

Welcome to Beemaster!
You can also make the entrance for a pollen trap. It is a piece of plastic with lots of holes that have slots extending from the holes that pulls the pollen off their legs.
Jim

[mikecva]

Welcome to the forum. 

Can you give us the max size requirements.  -Mike