This book chronicles, with extraordinary imagery, the lifecycle of honey bees, as they strive to help their colony survive through the changing seasons.
A beehive is often understood as a super-organism. In fact, scientists are learning that a beehive is filled with individuals, which each have something akin to a personality. Moreover, bees are incredibly intelligent. They have a symbolic language, plan their daily routines, and not only can they count but they can understand the concept of zero. The worker bees respond and adapt to their environment and have great control over the fate of their collective. They decide where to forage for food, where to establish a new colony, and whether to raise a new queen. They even show the queen where to find her mates.
This new perspective led a team of researchers to attempt a unique challenge: to portray the life of a single bee from hatching to death. Over two years, they documented tens of thousands of bees, using state-of-the-art macro-imaging technology. They’ve brought this remarkable photography together with rigorous science to reveal the dramatic world of the honey bee.
Dennis Wells is a filmmaker who has developed, produced and directed science and history documentaries for the Smithsonian Channel and PBS.
Jürgen Tautz is a sociobiologist and bee expert. He is a Professor at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Würzburg and chairman of its bee research group.