Over the last few months, while preparing my blog, I have often regretted being constrained to still and silent pictures. The farm is such a sensual experience. There are sights, sounds, smells. And yes, tastes too. All of this makes life here special. Dimensions that can not be completely shared through words and still pictures.
I got an el cheapo video camera the other day. I wanted to experiment with moving pictures on the farm. I feel they could help tell the a rich story. So today, I took the camera out with the intent to film my experiences working my bee hives. I took the camera, suited up, and headed out to open a hive up and film the experience.
Halfway to the hive, I noticed something special. A wild bee swarm! Now I had just written about a wild swarm this month. Well, apparently they were not happy with the location I had put them. Fair enough. They are wild and have a mind of their own. In fact, they had come to almost the same spot where I caught them the last time, just one tree over. This is an opportunity for me and my new camera. I can now hive the swarm, and catch it all on camera!
This first video is some footage of me standing in the swarm. While I was watching them, I was happy that the bees are so healthy this year, and thinking about what a difficult year it was last summer. The fire and smoke from the Basin Complex really caused hardships for the bees. But this year, they seem to be flourishing, and for this I am grateful. But I couldn't help also thinking about the things we Man do that also make the lives of bees so difficult.
In this video, aside from just delighting in the swarm, I talk a bit about insect pheromones, how they use them to communicate, pesticides, and new pheromone based pesticides. Please watch this first attempt to film life on the farm, and let me know what you think!
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