Maes’s multi-disciplinary practice merges art and science, exploring the symbiotic relationship between humans, nature, and (bio)technology. In collaboration with scientists, she develops alternative research methods, with her experimental Brussels rooftop garden, Hortus Experimentalis, as a basis. She uses this as a field laboratory for studying bees, plants, and bacteria. Guerrilla Beehive (Bee Agency) and Intelligent Guerilla Beehive take as their point of departure the endangerment of this intelligent super-organism. In order to protect these fragile but vital insects, Maes has designed a mobile hive – a refuge – customised to their needs. Manufactured from microbial skin and bacteria that register environmental influences and respond to them, the hives are meant to provide protection to the bees. They offer a concrete starting point for an exploration of possible futures through artistic research on material science and biotechnology, reflecting the artist’s belief in multi-species collaboration. The hives are presented alongside two microscopically enlarged photographs of the extraordinarily complex anatomy of bees, as well as two videos showing the inside of the hives and the movement of the bees.