The Making of a Bee Documentary
We are out filming some honey extracting in North Dakota these days, among other things. So I will dwell on the honey issue for a little longer. In popular perception, bears and honey seem to be closely related – not just in packaging. One of the reasons might be the early exposure of most of [...]
Everybody in the bee-world is atwitter about extracting honey these days, so I thought a little honey fact-check is in order. However, the results are not very satisfying. Maybe you can help me to figure this out. I am sure there is some variation in the activity and productivity of honeybees around the world. But [...]
At this time of the year, bees are preparing for winter, the period of scarcity. No flowers, no nectar, no pollen, no brood. They have to live on what they have collected over the summer and if it’s not enough, the entire colony will die. As with everything else, the bees are well adapted to [...]
When researching for a bee-project, you are bound to come across all sorts of bee-related metaphors (the sting, the buzz, the workerbee etc.) and phrases. Most are easy to deal with, even when English is not your first language. But what is it with ‘the bee’s knees’? Sometimes, you can get away with taking the [...]
Just when you think you are beginning to have a pretty good picture of these little critters and their daily pursuits, the bees will come up with something entirely new and outrageous to surprise you. Guaranteed. Like washboarding. In the afternoon. See for yourself. Biologist and photographer Alex Wild over at his beautiful Myrmecos Blog [...]
Mein guter Photographen-Freund Kai Hesse tourt gerade ausgedehnt mit Kind und Kegel und Wohnwagen um die Ostsee und hat dabei immer ein offenes Auge für idyllische Stellplätze, wie es scheint. Dieser hier in Polen war allerdings schon besetzt: Und zwar nicht von einer netten campenden Kleinfamilie… …sondern von ein paar-zig-tausend Honigbienen! My dear photographer-friend Kai [...]
Filming field experiments: It may look like a picknick… …but it’s not. It takes patience and meticulous care. Every single bee has to be marked… …and eventually becomes a data point. Many thanks to the scientists and students in the field for being very patient with us, too!!
Nothing is simple. And certainly not communication. Not even in bees. Not?! you ask. But what about the waggle-dance? The famous „dance-language“ of the honeybees? The one we learnt about in school? Hasn’t all that been worked out a long time ago? (Image source) Well – yes. And no. As I said – it’s complicated [...]
Bees see the world differently. So when we went out last week to film some experiments of Prof. Randolf Menzel and his group from the Free University of Berlin about bee navigation and memory, we thought we need to get the bees’ perspective as well. Now, bees usually fly in a height of up to [...]
Earlier this week, we finally went filming with some scientists on a very flat field in Brandenburg. And I am happy to report that the weather fully cooperated with our efforts! The lonely figure in the field is Craig, a visiting scientist from New Zealand. He is investigating the “inner clock” of bees and how [...]
