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50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

Factual: Money

The stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which helped create the economic world

Tim Harford tells the fascinating stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world.

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50 Things That Made the Modern Economy: Langstroth Hive

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Langstroth Hive

30/03/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy, Langstroth Hive

The Langstroth Hive: a wooden box that made the industrialisation of the bee possible

Few of us truly appreciate just how much the honey bee has been industrialised – and the simple yet radical invention that made that industrialisation possible.

Humans have valued bees for their honey for thousands of years – and economists have long admired bees for their cooperative work ethic, too. But few of us, whether economists, honey-lovers, or both, have quite appreciated just how much the honey bee has been industrialised – and the simple yet radical invention that made that industrialisation possible. As Tim Harford explains, it is a sign of just how far the modern market economy has penetrated that it now reaches deep into the heart of the beehive.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon

(Image: Bee keeper lifting shelf out of hive, Credit: MIlan Jovic/Getty Images)

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