Honeybees trained as Landmine-Detectors
In Kroatien richten sie Bienen auf Landminen ab und füttern sie mit einem Cocktail aus Zuckerlösung und TNT:
[Nikola Kezic, an expert on the behavior of honeybees at Zagreb University,] outlined the idea for the experiment: Bees have a perfect sense of smell that can quickly detect the scent of the explosives. They are being trained to identify their food with the scent of TNT. […]
Several feeding points were set up on the ground around the tent, but only a few have TNT particles in them. The method of training the bees by authenticating the scent of explosives with the food they eat appears to work: bees gather mainly at the pots containing a sugar solution mixed with TNT, and not the ones that have a different smell.
Phys.org: Honeybees trained in Croatia to find land mines
Wired: Honeybees trained to sniff out landmines in Croatia
Bee Dance
Youtube Direktbees, via Arbroath
And then this happened: „In this video I, Sara Mapelli, am dancing with 12,000 honey bees.“ Yep.
Blue psychedelic Honey and the Candy-Bees:
Bienen in Nordfrankreich produzieren derzeit grünen und blauen Honig, offensichtlich ist der Nektar von Abfällen aus einer Fabrik verseucht, die in der Nähe M&Ms herstellt. Candy-Honig. Ich hab’ aber noch ‘ne Theorie: What is blue honey? Honey with Psilocybe mushrooms. „If you put Psilocybe mushrooms in raw honey for an extended period of time (few months or so), the honey will begin to turn blue. Not only will it absorb the blue pigment from the mushroom, but the Psilocybin as well…the honey becomes psychedelic. “
Honey Forensics
Sehr interessantes, leider viel zu kurzes Posting auf Wired Science über Vaughn Bryant, der Honig-Fälschungen nachweist.
The honey trade has developed a top-shelf segment, with connoisseurs paying hefty premiums for certain makers and regions of origin. Sidr honey, made from the nectar of jujube trees in Yemen, can cost $50 a jar (about 10 times more per ounce than that stuff in bear-shaped bottles). Such prices have contributed to widespread honey fraud. Luckily, Bryant can tell if that Alaskan fireweed honey is just rebottled Sue Bee.
That’s because, in addition to being an anthropologist, Bryant is also a melissopalynologist, a scientist who studies pollen in bee products. He can ID a honey’s origin by analyzing pollen traces left behind by the bees who harvested the nectar.
The Hive Minder: Pollen Detective Sticks It to Honey Counterfeiters (via Notcot)
Bees drinking human Tears
Discover Mag über Bienen in Tailand, die Tränen trinken und sich auch (manchmal) durch Rumblinzelei nicht verscheuchen lassen. Das Bild dazu ist großartig und zeigt Wissenschaftler im Selbstversuch.
On landing, automatic blinking with the eye often prevented the bee from getting a firm hold, causing it to fall off the eyelashes. If so, the bee persistently tried again and again until it was successful, or finally gave up and flew off. In a very few cases the approach was so gentle that the host (H.B.) did not realize he had a Lisotrigona attached to his lid, imbibing his tears. After landing and whilst sucking tears, H.B. often could barely feel the presence of a bee; indeed, checking by mirror was then required to make sure whether it was still there or had left.
However, when several bees were involved, the experience was rather unpleasant, causing strong tear flow. Once a bee had settled and more were approaching, these tended to settle near each other in a row. Closing the eye did not necessarily dislodge bees but some continued to suck at the slit. They were even able to find and settle at closed eyes.
Bees That Drink Sweat From People’s Skin and Tears From People’s Eyes
Honeybee Swarm Removal by Hand
YT Direktbees, via Arbroath
‘Nen Bienenschwarm mit der Hand rumtragen: Balls of Steel.
Bee Beard Competition
In China haben sie am Wochenende einen Bienenbart-Wettbewerb veranstaltet, hier ein paar Bilder davon. Hier gibt’s ein paar Shots aus einem Bienenbart-Wettbewerb in Kanada 2010, weiter unten ein Video aus dem Jahr 2009. Imker sind ja auch eher so irre Leute, fürchte ich.
A “bee-attracting” competition in China’s Hunan province pitted two fearless bee keepers, Lu Kongjiang (above) and Wang Dalin against one another. Wearing only a pair of shorts and with a queen bee they reared to attract the swarms, the competitors stood on a weighing scale so the judges could determine who attracted more bees.
The Guinness Book of Records has a category for “most pounds of bees worn on the body,” reportedly held by US animal trainer Mark Biancaniello who attracted 39.5 kilos (87lb) of bees onto his body. Mr Wang won the competition after he attracted 26 kg (57lb) of bees onto his body in 60 minutes. His opponent was engulfed by a mere 22.9 kg (50lb), local media reported.
(Youtube Direktbees, via MeFi)
Doku-Trailer: Queen of the Sun: What Are The Bees Telling Us?
(Youtube Direktbees, via Coudal)
Wunderbarer Trailer zur kommenden Doku „Queen of the Sun: What Are The Bees Telling Us?“, Snip von der Website zum Film:
Queen of the Sun follows colorful, alternative and inspiring beekeepers from all around the globe as they keep bees in natural and holistic ways. From Gunther Hauk in the United States to Massimo Carpinteri in Italy, each has unique philosophical and spiritual insights into their bees and is striving to keep their bees safe from pesticides, and the other causes behind Colony Collapse Disorder.
Ad featuring 100.000 Bees
(Youtube Direktbee, via Copyranter)
Schöne Anzeige der Winzerei Banrock Station, die mit Bienenköniginnen-Pheromonen 100.000 Bienen anlockte. Von Copyranter:
Using queen bee pheromones, the billboard attracted 100,000 bees from a local honey farm to form a buzzing SOS for England’s dwindling bee population (which has halved in the last 20 years). The bees remained for about an hour.
2010 Bee Beard Competition
Ich hatte keine Ahnung, dass es tatsächlich einen Bienenbart-Wettbewerb gibt. I mean… what?!
As counting the bees would be tricky, the winner is assessed by weight (10,000 bees a pound.) Beekeepers are weighed before being sent into the tents to be ”groomed with bees’ and after it.
It was a case of who dares wins as the contestants bravely wore thousands of honey bees on their face and body. Tibor Szabo was among those who took part and was pictured with his head completely covered with honey bees.
Beebearding is thought to date back to the 1700s when an English beekeeper discovered he could create a beard of bees by tying the queen to a thread around his neck and would parade through the streets wearing the unusual costume.
To Bee Or Not To Bee: 2010 Bee Beard Competition in Ontario (via Coudal)
Jesus-Skulptur aus Bienenwaben
Schöne Arbeit von Tomáš Gabzdil Libertiny und 40.000 Honigbienen: Eine Jesus-Skulptur aus Bienenwaben.
the small cabinet is a clean-room unit that has been constructed from custom aluminium profiles, glass sheets, rubber inserts and wooden beehives. the base plate of glass has been cut with a queen restrictor mesh, allowing worker-bees to access the encased structure from two hives hung beneath the cabinet.
over the course of the fair, 40 000 worker bees were released into the case to complete a wax honeycomb structure over the figure of a martyred christ rising out of the chaos, his weight seeming to be upheld by the mass strength of the swarm. the figure within the vitrine is made of a laser sintered framework in which the industrious bees created a honeycomb skin over before filling each cell with the honey they produce. then bees worked to remove the honey from the cells and return it to the beehive, cleaning the figure back to the wax cells they originally created. tomáš made the honeycomb a red-orange color to symbolize the cross.
Prof. Norman Gary spielt Klarinette, während er mit hunderten Bienen bedeckt ist
(Youtube Direktbees, via Arbroath)
Das hier ist Professor Norman Gary und er spielt „When The Saints Come Marching In“ auf einer Klarinette, während er mit hunderten Bienen bedeckt ist. Er nennt das ganze „The Thriller Bee Show“, wurde dabei schonmal ins Auge gestochen (!) und hat auch schonmal eine Biene beim Klarinettenspielen eine Biene eingeatmet (!!) w00t!
