Bees have extraordinary artistic skills. They are capable of making spiral shaped alverari. Here are some examples of their creations
Hardworking, attentive, skilled in producing honey and pollinating flowers. The api they do this, but also much more. They have another perhaps lesser known ability: they are architects amazing.
When they are not forced to deposit their honey inside a hive with a classic rectangular shape, the bees can give vent to their artistic vein. There are numerous examples of their skill, one more beautiful than the other.
Real works of art look like those made by the bees that populate the area of Bodiam Castle in Robertsbridge, in the United Kingdom. In fact, they have built a splendid nest in the shape of a heart in the structure of their hive. The photo of their creation went around the world and was published by National Trust.
This image amazes us because we are used to seeing and imagining the hives made inside the beekeepers' hives, with their typical square shapes. There the bees deposit the honey. In Nature, however, they have ample space available to store their precious nectar and can give free rein to the "fantasy".
Another example is the one made by Tetragonula carbonaria. This creature, originally from Australia, specializes in making single-layered spiral hives lined with a sticky layer that helps trap pathogens to prevent them from entering.
©Tim Heard
Equally suggestive are the works created "four hands" by bees and the artist Hilary Berseth who lives in Pennsylvania. In fact, it creates basic structures in wire and wax, then leaving the task of building the sculpture to the bees. Asking for help from beekeeper Jim Bobb with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Berkeley, Berseth has aimed at the maximum yield of temperature, humidity, ventilation to make the work of bees easier in the realization of their sculpture.
© Hilary Berseth
The mysterious pinwheel shown below is the finest result of the work of bees. Berseth was offered the idea by the same insects who, in a beehive, had created an extraordinary spiral.
So he decided to collaborate with them by creating structures with thin sheets of wax, which mimic the spacing of a natural beehive. The bees did the rest. The result? Three beautiful sculptures on display at Eleven Rivington until November.
Bees will never cease to amaze us!
Sources of reference: Facebook / National Trust, NYMag
READ also:
- Do these bees build amazing spiral hives (and no one knows why)?
- This is how bees see?
- Not just hives, solitary bees are also extremely sociable (but we're losing them)
