Wonders of the Hive

A commissioned public artwork created for the new Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory HBREL in Gainesville, FL (2019).

Wonders of the Hive reveals a glimpse into the enigmatic world of bees through an up-close look at honey through the microscope. Intricate structures and patterns emerge through the process of crystallization. Analyzing these processes, the honey takes on a symbolic nature and a greater significance. Through a collective effort, bees transform raw materials into something new. Bees perform a sort of alchemy that offers us insight into the wonders of the natural world and its seemingly hidden potential. Bees are surveyors of the landscape and mediators of the natural world. Looking at honey through the microscope activates the imagination and allows us to see further into a substance that is infused with the very world we inhabit.

The photographs show various types of honey produced by Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, along with other species of bees, in the Apidae family, such as stingless bees. The honey was prepared on microscope slides and photographed through a compound microscope. The final images are comprised of several images stacked together at varying points of focus.

 

Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory HBREL, Gainesville, FL

Commissioned public art for the new Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory.

Wonders of the Hive, installation view, University of Florida’s Honey Bee Research and Laboratory HBREL (2019)

Here you can see the wall plaque for Wonders of the Hive, a public artwork displaying honey photographed under the microscope created for the University of Florida’s new Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory HBREL.

All images copyright Michelle Rogers.