3D Carniolan

The Beekeeping Association of Slovenia

3D Queen is a physical model of the worker bee Apis mellifera carnica, the Slovenian indigenous Carniolan bee. It is a unique educational and promotional tool produced with the help of the latest technologies.  The model is based on a real-life Carniolan honey bee, accurately imaged down to the micron using a Micro CT scanner. A physical model was created out of the digital model with the use of 3D printing. The model is made on a 1:100 scale and shares over 90% morphological similarity with a real bee. It has a total length of 170 cm. 

It is built out of more than 200 different 3D printed parts and is built out of nylon plastic, commonly used for demanding industrial prototypes and installed elements. The wings are built out of see-through photopolymer while its body is covered with horsehair. The naturally compounded eye of the bee has between 5000 to 6000 lenses, while the compounded eye of the 3D queen is built out of 5742 lenses. 

Inside the bee is a metal framework, carrying the entire body of the bee and a computer guided mechatronic system, which powers the moving parts of the bee – the stinger, the wax plates/glands, antennae and proboscis. The final model is set onto a mobile and spinning platform and is accompanied with 9 animations in Slovenian and English language.

Conceptual design: Boštjan Noč

Project leader: Marko Borko

Expert review of animations: Andreja Kandolf Borovšak, DSc, Peter Kozmus, DSc, Nataša Lilek, DSc, Tomaž Samec

Realisation: Intri, d. o. o.

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