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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
We've been beekeeping for over 30 years and cannot believe how amazing this video teaches the inner life of a bee hive. I've taken this movie to asia and taught many classes about beekeeping and this movie tells it all. Very well done!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Barbara
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the video that teachers request to use in classrooms. They think it's great and I agree.
The photography will amaze you. The closeups are so close, with cameras placed inside the hive. You'll feel like a bee walking around with the other bees inside the hive. Somehow they've rigged a camera to a bee and we go with her as she makes her foraging flights. These shots are astounding.
This video shows three different types of hives: A beeyard with about 24 hives, a swarm that has moved into a hollow apple tree and another swarm that takes up residence in a woods. We go inside the hive with a video camera and see the intimate details of workers as they are laid as eggs (see a queen lay the egg), grow and hatch as workers.
The life inside the hive is amazing to watch. It shows the 3 castes of bees, some bee biology and chores, wax construction, sharing of honey and attacks by invaders - moths, wasps and hornets.
The bees build queen cells and we see a queen hatch, then she goes on a mating flight - we actually see her mate mid air with a drone--all captured in closeup by the camera. She returns and we hear her piping and then fight to be the queen of the hive.
One queen leaves in a swarm and we watch while they select a new home for themselves and then build wild combs.
Next we're in a town where a large swarm has taken up residence. Beekeepers come in to help capture it but the queen flies off with her workers and they take up residence in the woods.
We'll see ants farming aphids and bees coming to take honeydew from the aphids, a bear who helps himself to a bee lunch with devastating results.
The video starts in spring and continues through summer, showing bees foraging flowers for nectar and pollen and covers the efforts and dangers of life as a field bee.
In fall there's the drone eviction (the boys can't stay for winter) and the beekeeper comes to take his share and extracts the honey.
This video is an absolute treasure. Teachers and children will enjoy it. Beekeepers will appreciate the closeups and scenes captured on video from inside the hive. All throughout the video little bits of biology and bee facts are shared. There's also a reference to a how we did it web site which reveals how the close up in flight video was done. I highly recommend this video.
The photography will amaze you. The closeups are so close, with cameras placed inside the hive. You'll feel like a bee walking around with the other bees inside the hive. Somehow they've rigged a camera to a bee and we go with her as she makes her foraging flights. These shots are astounding.
This video shows three different types of hives: A beeyard with about 24 hives, a swarm that has moved into a hollow apple tree and another swarm that takes up residence in a woods. We go inside the hive with a video camera and see the intimate details of workers as they are laid as eggs (see a queen lay the egg), grow and hatch as workers.
The life inside the hive is amazing to watch. It shows the 3 castes of bees, some bee biology and chores, wax construction, sharing of honey and attacks by invaders - moths, wasps and hornets.
The bees build queen cells and we see a queen hatch, then she goes on a mating flight - we actually see her mate mid air with a drone--all captured in closeup by the camera. She returns and we hear her piping and then fight to be the queen of the hive.
One queen leaves in a swarm and we watch while they select a new home for themselves and then build wild combs.
Next we're in a town where a large swarm has taken up residence. Beekeepers come in to help capture it but the queen flies off with her workers and they take up residence in the woods.
We'll see ants farming aphids and bees coming to take honeydew from the aphids, a bear who helps himself to a bee lunch with devastating results.
The video starts in spring and continues through summer, showing bees foraging flowers for nectar and pollen and covers the efforts and dangers of life as a field bee.
In fall there's the drone eviction (the boys can't stay for winter) and the beekeeper comes to take his share and extracts the honey.
This video is an absolute treasure. Teachers and children will enjoy it. Beekeepers will appreciate the closeups and scenes captured on video from inside the hive. All throughout the video little bits of biology and bee facts are shared. There's also a reference to a how we did it web site which reveals how the close up in flight video was done. I highly recommend this video.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
21 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Photography; Non-technical Story; Teacher Summary
April 7 2011
By John Richard Schrock
- Published on Amazon.com
NOVA: Bees--Tales from the Hive (54 minutes) (©2000) WGBH, Boston.
Teacher summary: Introduction shows worker bees defending the hive in a suicide act (as their stinger pulls out). Workers search for nectar; close-ups show them sucking nectar from flowers. Pollen collects on hairs and is then stored on pollen sacs on the legs. Back at the hive, the nectar is regurgitated, processed and within five days is packed into cells for storage as honey. Other cells store pollen. Brief illustration of the importance of pollination to our crops and fruit trees. Waggle dance is briefly shown but this is not detailed enough to actually teach the orientation. Bees are followed on foraging. Lifespan is mentioned. Distinction between sterile female workers, male drones, and fertile queens is made. One slight error is narration that only chemical control (scent) keeps the workers from reproducing; not so. Best footage I have seen of bee larval development and stages of metamorphosis. The brood cells for sterile workers and drones are shown, along with emergence from cells. Worker care for emerging drones is shown. Video switches to overcrowding and the need to swarm. The first queen to emerge from the enlarged queen cell, where the "grub"[not the preferred term, "grub" is generally for beetle larvae] has been fed royal jelly and becomes queen. The old queen has already used scents to stimulate many workers to swarm off with her. A new colony is formed in a hollow tree, using chemical marking. Video illustrates how the workers measure the new nest. Building of honeycomb is shown but wax secretion is not shown close-up. The geometry of the honeycomb is explained. Intruders include a mouse. The deaths-head hawk moth is shown invading the hive by mimicry of scent, avoiding raising the bee's alarm scent (the video avoids terms such as "pheromone," etc.). The moth also mimics the queen's sounds. Summer rains also pose a water danger to guard bees and allow a mouse to enter a nest. The bee-eater birds, unaffected by stinging, are shown in fabulous footage capturing bees in their beaks in mid-air. The European hornets emerge from their nest to attack and decimate a beehive. The bee's antennae and feet have senses of smell and taste. Focusing on the new hive left behind by a swarming queen, the new queen engages and stings younger sisters. A queen makes a mating flight and mates with distant drones and returns. In the case where the new queen swarms or is killed, virgin queens may "swarm" at high risk to the hive. Bees that are swarming are not in a defensive stinging mode and a swarm is shown alighting on trolley lines in Germany, stopping the urban human activities until the bees fly away. Bees are shown forming a new hive in a hollow tree stump. Some honey bees harvest woodland honey from aphids. Ants are shown raiding a nest. A bear tears apart the tree stump to harvest honey, despite heavily bothersome bee stings. Bees toss out the drones and survive winter. A beekeeper harvests some frames of honey. Video closes with a quote from Winnie the Pooh, describing the best part of honey being the moment before eating it: "sweet anticipation."
The close-up photography throughout the video is exceptional. David Ogden Stiers narrates with his signature voice that drops off at the end of each sentence, which can lead to some students drifting off as well. Some of the script is anthropomorphic but not problematic. Appropriate for grade levels from 5th through high school; use at university level will require additional technical supplemantary narration.
John Richard Schrock.
Teacher summary: Introduction shows worker bees defending the hive in a suicide act (as their stinger pulls out). Workers search for nectar; close-ups show them sucking nectar from flowers. Pollen collects on hairs and is then stored on pollen sacs on the legs. Back at the hive, the nectar is regurgitated, processed and within five days is packed into cells for storage as honey. Other cells store pollen. Brief illustration of the importance of pollination to our crops and fruit trees. Waggle dance is briefly shown but this is not detailed enough to actually teach the orientation. Bees are followed on foraging. Lifespan is mentioned. Distinction between sterile female workers, male drones, and fertile queens is made. One slight error is narration that only chemical control (scent) keeps the workers from reproducing; not so. Best footage I have seen of bee larval development and stages of metamorphosis. The brood cells for sterile workers and drones are shown, along with emergence from cells. Worker care for emerging drones is shown. Video switches to overcrowding and the need to swarm. The first queen to emerge from the enlarged queen cell, where the "grub"[not the preferred term, "grub" is generally for beetle larvae] has been fed royal jelly and becomes queen. The old queen has already used scents to stimulate many workers to swarm off with her. A new colony is formed in a hollow tree, using chemical marking. Video illustrates how the workers measure the new nest. Building of honeycomb is shown but wax secretion is not shown close-up. The geometry of the honeycomb is explained. Intruders include a mouse. The deaths-head hawk moth is shown invading the hive by mimicry of scent, avoiding raising the bee's alarm scent (the video avoids terms such as "pheromone," etc.). The moth also mimics the queen's sounds. Summer rains also pose a water danger to guard bees and allow a mouse to enter a nest. The bee-eater birds, unaffected by stinging, are shown in fabulous footage capturing bees in their beaks in mid-air. The European hornets emerge from their nest to attack and decimate a beehive. The bee's antennae and feet have senses of smell and taste. Focusing on the new hive left behind by a swarming queen, the new queen engages and stings younger sisters. A queen makes a mating flight and mates with distant drones and returns. In the case where the new queen swarms or is killed, virgin queens may "swarm" at high risk to the hive. Bees that are swarming are not in a defensive stinging mode and a swarm is shown alighting on trolley lines in Germany, stopping the urban human activities until the bees fly away. Bees are shown forming a new hive in a hollow tree stump. Some honey bees harvest woodland honey from aphids. Ants are shown raiding a nest. A bear tears apart the tree stump to harvest honey, despite heavily bothersome bee stings. Bees toss out the drones and survive winter. A beekeeper harvests some frames of honey. Video closes with a quote from Winnie the Pooh, describing the best part of honey being the moment before eating it: "sweet anticipation."
The close-up photography throughout the video is exceptional. David Ogden Stiers narrates with his signature voice that drops off at the end of each sentence, which can lead to some students drifting off as well. Some of the script is anthropomorphic but not problematic. Appropriate for grade levels from 5th through high school; use at university level will require additional technical supplemantary narration.
John Richard Schrock.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing look at life inside the hive
May 13 2008
By N. Faulkner
- Published on Amazon.com
I purchased this DVD hoping to use it with young children. It really is too complex and perhaps a little violent for the group of children (4-5 yr) that I had in mind. However, I found this DVD fascinating and have recommended it to all of my friends who have gardens, or just love nature and critters. Amazing video of bees being bees. My husband even watched it with me! I will watch this one again!
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEES
July 12 2007
By J. N. Childs
- Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
An excellent film, defying belief as they mount cameras on the backs of honeybees and follow them into the hive.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
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