New videos on The Intimacy Machine

Some new videos – including recordings of honeybee cannibalism, pollen and nectar storage, and oviposition – have been uploaded to The Intimacy Machine!

Comprising part of a larger compilation of videos, these recordings directly show what happens within a bee’s cell – and have been made publicly available for the first time. Based on long-term research, Paul Siefert, Nastasya Buling and Bernd Grünewald recently released wonderful images from within the hive, placing the viewer directly in a honeybee’s cell. To maintain homoeostasis, a bee organism needs the combined action of individual bees. Whilst well known today, these behaviours are really difficult to film or observe directly, and this complexity has meant a lack in recorded evidence. This study is designed to fill this void, and further reach beyond the scientific community. With Siefert et al.’s own words: “In addition, we encourage the non-commercial use of our material to educate beekeepers, the media and the public and, in turn, call attention to the general decline of insect biomass and diversity.” (Siefert et al. 2020, 1)

Note annexe

This video shows the process of oviposition by a worker bee, which is when the egg is ejected out of the body. While the queen is known to lay eggs in the beehive, worker bees can also lay eggs, however, they are unfertilised and can only give birth to drones. After being spawned, the egg stays still until the larvae starts hatching.

A special thanks to Dr. Paul Siefert for his generosity!

To see the videos and find more information visit The Intimacy Machine’s platform: www.intimacy-machine.net

The Intimacy Machine is an ongoing archive which collects various materials from academic research about bees. Focusing mainly on non-text-based knowledge the platform proposes another access to this specific academic research. The project was developed in collaboration with Joris Landman and Harry Bloch from Studio Harris Blondman based and Amsterdam and the visual anthropologist Ellen Lapper. The project was supported by Eyebeam (NY) and La Becque (CH).