NOVA: Bees - Tales From the Hive
by Wolfgang Thaler; Herbert Habersack
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: NovaDirector: Wolfgang Thaler; Herbert Habersack
Brand: WGBH HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 54 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-04-24
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: WGBH BOSTON
Product features:
- Amazingly up-close footage filmed with specially developed macro lenses brings you the most intimate- and most spectacular- portrayal of a working bee colony ever filmed. It s not frightening- it s fascinating. See things you never imagined. Hear things only bees hear. Discover new found facts about the strange and complex life of bees. Have you ever seen the high-speed mid-air "wedding fli
Movie Reviews of NOVA: Bees - Tales From the Hive
Movie Review: Not a great documentary
Summary: 1 Stars
As a relatively new beekeeper (3-4 years now) I have been trying to learn alot about these fascinating creatures. This looked like a good documentary, plus it received many stars. If you don't know anything about bees, this dvd might be alright. After reading Beekeeping for Dummies and The Beekeeper's Handbook (Diana Sammataro/Alphonse Avitabile), this dvd is just about worthless, really. There is a scene where a yellowjacket tried to steal away a bee or two and is attacked, stung to death by a ball of honey bees. The narrator states that these guard bees lose their stinger, thereby sacrificing her life for the sake of the hive. Yet we also see a virgin queen stinging another queen to death inside her cell. Using that logic, if a queen stung her rival, then she too would die. That is one glaring error hard to miss. Unless I am drastically mistaken, honeybees can sting other insects without being ripped apart; it is mammals' skin that causes the stinging barb to become lodged and thereby kill the bee when she pulls away from the victim.
Secondly, the videography is done very poorly. Understandably the electronics available at filming time probably lacked the sophistication and small size that is available today. (anyone remember those first cell phones??) And the "flights" of the bees are absolutely horrible. It is like they stuck a bee on an invisible string and moved it over a filmed background to simulate flight. Additionally, the mating flight of the queen is done the same way. It doesn't even look real.
One scene shows rival queens "tooting" to locate each other. During that scene the tooting becomes louder and more frequent, only later do you realize it transitions to the background music, not the tooting that queens do. Once again the producers did a horrible job.
The honey-loving bear is one of the last scenes on the dvd. Very poorly done too. There is footage of a bear coming across a stump with honeybees in it and tearing it apart, eating about half of it. Yet there is no close-up footage of what is left of the colony. The producer should have put in another scene or two of bears attacking colonies. Furthermore the narrator states the bear is after honey primarily, and may eat protein-rich brood. From most references I've read, the opposite is true. Bears are after the protein-rich brood, and may eat honey if it is there. In nature, protein is not always abundant and is prized above carbohydrates among mammals.
Originally this was going to get 2 stars, but when considering content and quality of this dvd, plus the cost, 1 star is about all it is worth. I would not buy this product again nor recommend it as an accurate reference. It is a shame it has to take up space on my shelf. There has to be better footage out there somewhere, maybe YouTube.
Hope this has been helpful.
Summary of NOVA: Bees - Tales From the Hive
Spend a year in this hive and experience life as a bee.Amazingly up-close footage filmed with specially developed macro lenses brings you the most intimate- and most spectacular- portrayal of a working bee colony ever filmed. It's not frightening- it's fascinating. See things you never imagined. Hear things only bees hear. Discover new found facts about the strange and complex life of bees.
Did you know it takes nectar from 10 million flowers to create a single liter of honey? No wonder they're called worker bees! Tales from the Hive exposes a bee colony's secret world- detailing such rarely seen events as the life-or-death battle between a pair of rival queens, a bee eater's attack on the hive, a scout bee's mysterious dance that shares special "nectar directions" with the rest of the hive. Also, watch the high-speed mid-air "wedding flight" of drone and queen. See the colony's defense against a honey-loving bear.
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