Insect Keeping

I love bringing nature into the city. From biophilic design to biomimicry and bionics, I think we can learn a lot from nature and it’s residents. My biggest interest lies with insects, crustaceans and other critters, especially eusocial ones that build their own small societies, such as bees and ants.

Bees

I am not only an urban psychologist, I am also a certified bee keeper. My family and I take care of a couple of bee hives and produce honey under the label “Hunny Comb”. We are located near the Lobau nature reserve in Vienna and produce small quantities of high quality raw honey. If you live in Austria and are interested in our honey or other bee-keeping related topics, feel free to contact me at
psyty. development [at]gmx.net

Ants

Ants are fascinating creatures. Similar to bees, they build their own structures and develop a complex social structure. Whilst they don’t produce any honey, I still enjoy taking care of a couple of ant colonies. I think we can learn a lot from the social insect world: the way they build their cities, the way they distribute jobs and responsibilities. Many logistical and technical challenges have already been addressed through bionics and with the help of ants and bees, but I believe, we cannot only learn how to to design our infrastructure more effectively, or save building resources by studying insects. I belive we can also learn a lot by studying their behaviour and social structure. However, I am no biologist, and also not a crazy scientist trying to turn society into a hive of drones. They simply inspire me and I enjoy watching them. If my fascination was able to inspire or intrigue you as well, I wrote a blog about ants in city planing here: [coming soon]

Isopods

In times of desertification, erosion, soil pollution and soil quality loss, thinking about soil has become more important than ever. Isopods make great pets because they do not require much, but give much in return. They break down organic material and can prevent mould and other outbreaks from taking over in terrariums, indoor flower pots, and gardens. Therefore, keeping isopods (or other detritivores, such as springtails and worms) is an often overlooked way to take better care of ones plants. The more green we bring into the city, the more we also have to think about keeping our plants healthy, be it on a large scale or even just on a small scale (by taking care of an isopod culture).

Triops and Shrimps

(coming soon)

Ecospheres

(coming soon)