0:00:02 > 0:00:05Welcome to the world of the honeybee,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08surely the most incredible insect on earth.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Bees have been around since the age of the dinosaurs,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17and human beings have harvested their honey for thousands of years.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24These days, they're one of the most widespread insects
0:00:24 > 0:00:27on the planet, with trillions of individuals.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33So you'd think we'd know absolutely everything there is to know
0:00:33 > 0:00:37about these amazing creatures. But there's so much more to discover.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39And that's what we're going to do.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42We're going to lift the lid on the secret life of the honeybee
0:00:42 > 0:00:44as never before,
0:00:44 > 0:00:45in Hive Alive.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57- Hello, I'm Chris Packham. - And I'm Martha Kearney.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Welcome to Hive Alive.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02And we're here in this fabulous Somerset garden
0:01:02 > 0:01:05in the heart of the countryside on a fine summer's day.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08- Martha, it couldn't be better. - It's perfect, isn't it?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10And we're going to be here for two whole programmes
0:01:10 > 0:01:13during which we're going to be unravelling the mysteries
0:01:13 > 0:01:17of that most iconic insect of the British summer, the honeybee.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22As a beekeeper myself, I'm really excited about what we're going
0:01:22 > 0:01:25to discover in our very own hives.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29We're showcasing the latest scientific experiments,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33and unleashing an arsenal of amazing gadgetry to delve into the
0:01:33 > 0:01:37miniature world of the bees inside and outside the hive.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Over the next week,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43we're analysing their every move with high-speed cameras,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47listening to their secret sounds with hidden microphones,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52and using a thermal camera to reveal what goes on within the hive.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56And we've even got, get this, a miniature helicopter,
0:01:56 > 0:02:00so that we can track the bees as they leave the hive to forage.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01That's going to be amazing.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05And to find out more intricate details of bee behaviour,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08we're joined by our resident expert, Professor Adam Hart.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10- And you've been doing some weird stuff?- Yes.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12I've been tagging and numbering our bees,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15so that we can follow them individually and see what they
0:02:15 > 0:02:17get up to in the hive, but also what they do when they leave.
0:02:17 > 0:02:1988, sounds a bit like a bingo call.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Anyway, thanks to number 88 and thousands of other bees,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25we're going to be discovering some amazing facts about their lives
0:02:25 > 0:02:28over the course of the next two programmes.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35We are in the Yeo Valley organic garden.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39It's in the lee of the Mendip Hills in Somerset.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42And the height of summer, which is the most critical time, isn't it,
0:02:42 > 0:02:43- for the bees?- It's certainly is.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But in this garden, they've found themselves a utopia.
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Let's take a look at it.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54The planted garden here is absolutely packed
0:02:54 > 0:02:58full of flowers, loaded with the nectar that the bees want.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Down there we've got our hives, which we're carefully monitoring.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06And over here, an observation hive made of glass, so that we can see
0:03:06 > 0:03:10directly into it to find out what they're getting up to.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12With all this on tap,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15you'd think that the bees would be happy, wouldn't you?
0:03:15 > 0:03:18But actually, this is no summer holiday for them.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21In fact, what they've got to do is to gather enough nectar and pollen
0:03:21 > 0:03:25to make honey to feed themselves and their young.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27And they've got to do all of this in the couple of months
0:03:27 > 0:03:31of fine weather left before the chill winds of autumn start to blow.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Then, the flowers around me will start to die off,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and if the bees don't have enough stores, then they'll die off as well.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49These are absolutely key to our bees' survival,
0:03:49 > 0:03:50the hives.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55They can't do without them because they overwinter as a colony.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Now, think about some of the other social insects that you know.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04Wasps, for example. They overwinter as a single, fertilised queen.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09All of the other wasps die in the autumn. But not honeybees.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16This strategy gives honeybees a head start over other pollinating
0:04:16 > 0:04:22insects when spring begins. But this comes at a price.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25To make it work, they need to make enough honey in the good times
0:04:25 > 0:04:30to keep the whole hive alive throughout the winter.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'To really understand the way bees live,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39'we need to see inside their home.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44'So, I'm going to take a guided tour of our beehive
0:04:44 > 0:04:45'with local beekeeper John.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49'Starting with the outer casing.'
0:04:49 > 0:04:53John, everywhere I go in Europe and North America,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56beehives look exactly the same.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59My conclusion is, it must be a design that works.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01It's quite a traditional design,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and the virtue of these hives is that they've got a cavity.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08And it allows the air to circulate inside the hive
0:05:08 > 0:05:10without cooling down.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16So we'll take off the honey box.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21'Inside, at its simplest, a beehive is a two-storey building.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22'On the top floor,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26'we find the food factory where the bees store the pollen
0:05:26 > 0:05:28'and turn the nectar into honey,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31'which in turn they store in the honeycomb.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:39So, that is a typical sealed, ready to be extracted, frame of honey.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- For them, of course, that would be a winter food store.- Absolutely.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44That's what helps them get through the winter.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48- For us, of course, it's the produce of the hive.- Yes.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52'This is the honey that we hope to harvest next week.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54'But of course, we mustn't take it all,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'or the colony would starve to death.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00'Of every five kilos of honey the bees make,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04'they need four just to keep the hive going.'
0:06:04 > 0:06:07They are a tremendous consumer of their own product,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11and that's why they have to work so hard to go out and collect.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18'Below, on the ground floor, is the nursery, or the brood box.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'It's covered with a metal grille known as the queen excluder,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25'which stops the queen from getting into the honey chamber above.'
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- Why do you want to keep her out of the honey box?- Because of hygiene.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34This is the maternity ward, that is a food store.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37So you don't want her to be laying any eggs in amongst the honey?
0:06:37 > 0:06:38- Exactly.- Right.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44So how many bees do you think are in this hive at the moment?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47I would think there's about 20,000 in here.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49And by the end of summer, if it continues productively,
0:06:49 > 0:06:54- how many then? - Well into the 50s.- 50,000?- Yes.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57All about securing enough pollen and nectar
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- to get them through the winter. - Absolutely.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Do you know what I like, John?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06The fact is that humans have been doing this
0:07:06 > 0:07:09for thousands of years, what we're doing at the moment.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10Thousands of years.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And the bees have been very friendly and passive this morning.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15- Long tradition.- Fantastic.- Yes.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'Our bees are in a race to gather food.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24'So we'll be tracking exactly how much honey they make.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27'The sensors show that the hive
0:07:27 > 0:07:32'and all of its contents now weigh 53.1kg.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35'By next time, we'd expect the bees to put on another
0:07:35 > 0:07:38'three or four kilos of honey.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41'But to pull this off, they're going to need to use
0:07:41 > 0:07:42'all of the natural skills
0:07:42 > 0:07:45'that they've spent millions of years honing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50'Beginning with navigation.'
0:07:52 > 0:07:55To make just a single pound of honey,
0:07:55 > 0:08:00bees have to fly a total of 50,000 miles.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06That's twice the way round the planet. An awful lot of flying hours.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09And it all begins when a foraging bee
0:08:09 > 0:08:12leaves the hive for the very first time.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Now, you'd think that they'd be pretty expert
0:08:17 > 0:08:19at finding their way around.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22But in fact, it can be a pretty hit-and-miss business
0:08:22 > 0:08:25when they venture out for the first time.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30One group of scientists is using some pretty unusual equipment
0:08:30 > 0:08:34to try to solve the ancient mystery of how bees navigate.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Here at Rothamsted Research, Stephan Wolf has found a novel way
0:08:43 > 0:08:44to track the exact flight path
0:08:44 > 0:08:47of a bee on her maiden flight.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56This cage has actually just meant that we can see
0:08:56 > 0:09:00the upside of the bee nicely, to put the label on it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:08- Like us, Stephan puts a numbered tag on each bee.- There we go.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10So he can follow them as individuals.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Even on this first reconnaissance flight,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21our bee may cover a huge area, so it would be impossible
0:09:21 > 0:09:24to follow her without some pretty specialised equipment.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32He's using military radar.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41In one more crucial procedure, Stephan attaches
0:09:41 > 0:09:45a radio-frequency transponder onto the bee herself.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48This sends a signal which will be tracked by his colleague.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53So with that, the bee should be able to fly around quite nicely.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58And hopefully get herself orientated around the new location of the hive.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12OK... Three, two, one, go.
0:10:16 > 0:10:17OK, she's out, she's out.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22- RADIO:- 'Bee flying towards me.'
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Our bee's transponder gives off a unique call sign, so as the
0:10:28 > 0:10:33radar dish scans the landscape, this shows up on the screen.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Over the next few minutes,
0:10:38 > 0:10:42we see a pattern emerge showing how she's systematically mapping
0:10:42 > 0:10:47the area around her hive. Programming her internal sat nav, if you like.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01This mental map will help her find her way between the hive
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and various different sources of nectar on the hundreds
0:11:04 > 0:11:07of foraging trips she'll make over the next few weeks.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Adam, I can't tell you the number of times
0:11:13 > 0:11:15that I've watched my bees go in and out of the hive.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17And I've no idea of what they're up to.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21But actually this military hardware can tell us where they've been going.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Yeah, it's incredible we can follow individual bees.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28When they're in the hive they're all together, but when they're out foraging, they're on their own.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30To get back to the hive, they have to be excellent navigators.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32How are they managing to navigate?
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Well, you can see on the screen here that when they leave the nest,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39when they leave the hive, they're doing these orientation flights.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40That bee is coming out
0:11:40 > 0:11:42and orientating itself within the landscape.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45It's using landmarks, it's working out where the sun is.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Bees have magnetic crystals in their brain,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49so they can actually detect the Earth's magnetic field.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51They can detect polarised light in the sky.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53They've got different mechanisms they can use
0:11:53 > 0:11:55to build up its navigational map
0:11:55 > 0:11:57so it can get that nectar and pollen back to the hive.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Because it's absolutely crucial it doesn't get lost on the way home.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Yeah, it doesn't matter how clever it is finding flowers.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04If it can't find the hive, it's all pointless.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07And what about the kit that they're using?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10That transponder they're putting on the bee, is that all right?
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Yes, they do look quite big, but they're only about 10% of the bee's body weight.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Bees can typically carry about five or six times that
0:12:16 > 0:12:18if they're flying back with nectar and pollen.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It's a little bit like us carrying a bag of shopping.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- We don't want to carry it all day, but it won't affect what we're doing.- Not harming them.- No.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27And is this technology able to tell us
0:12:27 > 0:12:30the kind of territory that the bee's looking for?
0:12:30 > 0:12:32- You can see that it's flying down the edges of the field.- Yes.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Edges are very important to bees because that's often...
0:12:35 > 0:12:37You've probably seen your bees doing this,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39edges are where you find a lot of flowers,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43and hedgerows particularly are very good for bees with all those bramble flowers.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46This time of year they're all over the brambles, which makes rather delicious honey.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48It does.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I suppose what they're really learning to do is,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- how to become a forager when they'll go on much longer flights.- Yeah.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59We used to call these play flights before we knew they were orientation flights.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01It's like play fighting in other animals.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04They're learning how to do that next job. That's exactly what they're doing.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08They're learning the environment, preparing themselves for the rigours of going out there
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- collecting nectar and pollen.- They can go quite a long way, can't they?
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I mean, up to three miles?
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Yes, and in fact when I was a student we were looking at some bees
0:13:16 > 0:13:19flying out to heather moorland that was seven or eight miles away.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21So, if it's a really good resource,
0:13:21 > 0:13:22they will fly a very long way to find it.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26It's almost like us travelling hundreds of square miles to look for food.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29- And still being able to find our way back home.- And finding our way back to our house.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32And it's not just a house with a town in a street and an address.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34It's a house in the middle of nowhere.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45OK. We can see our honeybees arriving back at the hive,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47loaded up with nectar and pollen.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50But then, they're disappearing inside.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53And we want to know what's happening inside that hive.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56The problem we've got is that we can't keep taking it to pieces,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00otherwise we'll simply disturb the bees.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03So, what we need is a different type of hive.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09- Adam.- Hi, Chris. - This is what we need.- Take a look.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13A good old observation hive, so we can see what's going on inside.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Most of what we know about bee behaviour in a hive
0:14:16 > 0:14:18comes from using one of these. It's a really, really important tool.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21And the bees are used to this? They're used to the light
0:14:21 > 0:14:25- and are behaving naturally? - Yep, they're flying in and foraging. The queen's laying eggs.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- It's all happening just as it is inside the main hive.- OK.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30We've got another piece of technology here, this small camera.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32If I turn it on,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36we should be able to get some views of the individual bees here.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41- There we are.- There we go. - Now, these are all the workers.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43- These are female bees.- Yep.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48'The vast majority of bees are female workers,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51'and as the name suggests, they do all of the work,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54'performing a wide range of roles from nursemaids to bouncers
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'and cleaners to undertakers.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00'And crucially, when they get older, as foragers.'
0:15:02 > 0:15:04The interesting thing is,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07they don't do the same job throughout their life, do they?
0:15:07 > 0:15:09No, they have a schedule of work that starts off in the hive,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12doing lots of nice, safe jobs, looking after the young.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14The colony gets its investment back.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Cos it's put a lot into making one of these bees.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18It wants to make sure it gets everything back.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20When they get older, they start going outside
0:15:20 > 0:15:21and doing the dangerous work.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24So they don't forage until they're at the end of their life?
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Yeah, couple of weeks old they'll start going out into the environment.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30And if they get lost, the colony... It's a business, if you like,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32it's got its resource back.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34What are they doing in the early part of their life then?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- Looking after the hive? Building the cells?- Exactly.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39They're feeding some of the young, nurturing the larvae,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41attending to them a huge amount.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43They are visited more than 2,000 times during the course
0:15:43 > 0:15:46of their lives. So they're really looking out...
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Each larvae is visited 2,000 times to get it to pupate?
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Yeah. And they're looking after the queen,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53they're building the wax later on in their life.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55So they're doing all these housekeeping jobs within the hive
0:15:55 > 0:15:58before they go outside and do the dangerous work.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59What is it, then, that triggers them
0:15:59 > 0:16:01to change their behaviour from one thing to another?
0:16:01 > 0:16:04It's a complex schedule of hormones and genes
0:16:04 > 0:16:05being switched on and off.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07But also they have to react to the situation around.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09If we suddenly started removing all of these foragers,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12the hive would realise they didn't have enough food coming in,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and you'd get what's called precocial foragers.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18- You'd get younger bees realising there's a job to be done. - They get promoted?- Yes.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Interestingly, their whole physiology starts to change. Their brains change.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26- You get structures in their brain starting to enlarge, so they can navigate.- Fantastic.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29The whole thing is all linked in to getting all that stuff back
0:16:29 > 0:16:32into the hive and to looking after the young when they're in there.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34So the two other types of bee we might find in here
0:16:34 > 0:16:37are the queen, of course, and drones, the males.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43'Unlike their sisters, the bigger, bug-eyed males, known as drones,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47'take a rather more laid-back approach to life.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52'They play absolutely no part in the day-to-day running of the hive.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55'They're the bee equivalent of gentleman of leisure,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58'loafing around until the time finally comes
0:16:58 > 0:17:01'for them to mate with a queen.'
0:17:01 > 0:17:03- The queen is in there though. - Oh, I can see her abdomen.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- You can see her abdomen, yeah. - Which is longer, narrower.- Yep.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10So, that's our abdomen going into that cell. She is laying an egg.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And that egg is fertilised, and it's going to become another worker.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17And you can see this little group, little coterie, a royal court
0:17:17 > 0:17:20that surrounds her, looking after her, shepherding her around.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22She's never left on her own.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25- You can see they are cleaning her, grooming her.- Lovely.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30- How many eggs will she lay a day? - Up to 2,000 eggs a day, she can lay.
0:17:30 > 0:17:322,000 in a day?!
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Yeah, which gives rise to this kind of egg-laying machine cliche
0:17:35 > 0:17:38that you often hear when it comes to queen bees. She is incredible.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And that's all she does, really.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And she's choosing to fertilise those. Because she can choose
0:17:42 > 0:17:45not to fertilise them to produce the males, the drones?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Yes. If she lays in a drone cell, which is slightly bigger
0:17:47 > 0:17:49because the drones are slightly bigger,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52she lays an unfertilised egg, and that develops into a male.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54So there's a conscious decision being made
0:17:54 > 0:17:55about which type of egg she lays?
0:17:55 > 0:17:58She's able to control whether she fertilises that egg,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01- and very, very accurately. - Who is in control?
0:18:01 > 0:18:06The old adage is that the queen is controlling this super-organism
0:18:06 > 0:18:09of bees, but that's not strictly the case, is it?
0:18:09 > 0:18:11No, the queen's up here at the moment. She's laying eggs.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13She's not controlling what's going on down here.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16The workers have to organise themselves. It's a self-organised
0:18:16 > 0:18:20system. It is very different from the way we organise things. There is no hierarchy in here.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23There's no boss telling them what to do. They're organising their own behaviour.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27The other thing is that we've got a microphone inside here
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and we can hear the activity.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32A huge amount of buzzing, of course, but also you can hear them
0:18:32 > 0:18:34licking their lips, smacking their mouths!
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Yeah, there's all sorts of sounds going on
0:18:36 > 0:18:37as they're doing these jobs.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42BUZZING
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Some of those sounds are being used to communicate as well
0:18:48 > 0:18:51as actually just incidental to the huge amount of work they're doing.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I see you've also got some of them marked.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57There's some here with white tags, and numbered as well. There we are.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58Yes, it's great,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01because it means we can follow our bees individually.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07We began by tagging a cohort of newly emerged worker bees,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09just a few hours old.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13At this stage, they are pretty docile.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16They can't fly very well as their wings aren't fully developed,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and even if they do sting you, there's virtually no venom
0:19:19 > 0:19:22so it doesn't hurt.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26John and Adam stuck a little numbered tag on each bee's
0:19:26 > 0:19:28thorax using a spot of glue.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37And once it's there, it doesn't impede the bee at all.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Then, they put them back into our observation hive.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48We marked two sets of female workers bees. The older,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52with red tags, and the younger, with white,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56to find out exactly how their roles change over time.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59These red ones that you can see are the ones that we marked
0:19:59 > 0:20:00- two weeks ago.- Oh, yeah.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03The white ones are the younger ones that we did a few days ago.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- Hopefully next week we'll see how their roles are changing as they get older.- Fascinating.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09It's going to be interesting to come back and look, to see what
0:20:09 > 0:20:12- happens to our marked bees over the course of the week.- Absolutely.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14We should see...
0:20:14 > 0:20:17In theory, we should see the white bees becoming foragers.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19We should see the red bees almost dropping off.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22But this is a fairy adaptive and dynamic environment.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24They don't always follow those textbook clockwork rules.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26It will depend on what's going on out there
0:20:26 > 0:20:28as well as what's going on in there.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Our red-tagged bees are now two weeks old.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37Very soon, they'll be ready to leave the hive on the most
0:20:37 > 0:20:41dangerous mission of their short, but eventful, lives.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43A mission from which they may not return.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Over the next week they'll be going hundreds of miles in search
0:20:52 > 0:20:55of nectar and pollen.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59But how do these tiny insects fly in the first place?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The flight of the humble honeybee is worth a closer look.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07And we've managed to capture these tiny insects' aerial acrobatics
0:21:07 > 0:21:09in ultra-slow motion.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25They may be small, but they are powerful flying machines,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27beating their twin pairs of wings
0:21:27 > 0:21:31at an astonishing 230 times a second to stay aloft.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41Bees carry more than half their body weight in nectar and pollen.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47So if they flew by simply flapping their wings up and down
0:21:47 > 0:21:50like a bird, they'd never even get off the ground.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Instead, they twist and fold the wings to create spinning currents
0:21:58 > 0:22:01of air that allow them to get airborne.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And just look at how manoeuvrable they are, turning on a sixpence
0:22:10 > 0:22:14and surviving G-forces that might kill a human being.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21They're just amazing.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34I have to say, I do think these images are quite extraordinary.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37We've been using a very special kind of camera that slows
0:22:37 > 0:22:40the motion down to 40 times of what it would be normally.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43It means you can see every little detail, doesn't it?
0:22:43 > 0:22:44Yeah, you can see those wings beating.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47You can see the little movements they have to make.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48Not just to generate lift,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51but also to get them onto those flowers to pick up the pollen,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54to pick up the nectar, and then get it back to the hive.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56And here we can see them coming back to the hive, can't we?
0:22:56 > 0:22:58I love watching these flights.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- And they're not just flying straight...- Is that one having a poo?- One has just done a poo.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05You often see that as they're leaving the hive or coming back in.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08They don't like to defecate in the hive. It makes good sense.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11I love just watching the landing boards there.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13They're not just flying straight in.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15It's not like some kind of robotic device.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18They're having to allow for the bees around there,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20they're having to find the right area.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Sometimes they land and have a little bit of a skid.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26These aren't perfect little toys, these are animals
0:23:26 > 0:23:28that are responding to the environment around them.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29You get a sense of...
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Whoa, there's one just fallen out of the sky. There we go.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- They'll be fine, they're very light. - It's not easy for them, is it?
0:23:35 > 0:23:38That's the sense I get. They're kind of battling against the odds.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46So far on Hive Alive...
0:23:48 > 0:23:50..we've lifted the lid on our hive,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and begun to understand the complex tasks each individual bee
0:23:54 > 0:23:58must perform to enable the colony as a whole to survive.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05And still to come -
0:24:05 > 0:24:08we'll be carrying out a ground-breaking experiment
0:24:08 > 0:24:10to show how bees and flowers
0:24:10 > 0:24:14use superhuman senses to communicate with each other.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22As our tagged bees leave their hive on their maiden flight,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24we are going to be hot on their heels.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35And we'll be decoding the secret language of bees
0:24:35 > 0:24:39that helps them find their food and foil their competitors.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45But first, the rather intimate relationship
0:24:45 > 0:24:48between bees and flowers.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51- It's a very important relationship, isn't it?- It is indeed.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53It's all about food and sex,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56and from the bees' point of view, of course, it's the food.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59The nectar, that's their fast fuel, if you like.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02The sugars, the carbohydrate they need to keep going
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and to convert to honey
0:25:04 > 0:25:07so that the hive can keep going through the winter.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09The pollen, on the other hand, that's their proper meal,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12as my mum would have called it. The protein, if you like.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14And again, of course they will store that to get that hive
0:25:14 > 0:25:16through the winter.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22From the plant's point of view, it's all about cross fertilisation,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26moving pollen from one plant of a species to a different plant
0:25:26 > 0:25:29of the same species.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33So it can enrich the genetic diversity, and in the long-term,
0:25:33 > 0:25:37these plants can continue to evolve and change to changing conditions.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Without that, they'd be stuffed, basically.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42So, what you're seeing when you watch the bees
0:25:42 > 0:25:47in your garden, is nothing less than evolution in action.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51You see, when a bee visits a flower to collect nectar and pollen,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54some of that pollen rubs off on the next flower.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58The bee doesn't know it, but every time it lands on a new flower,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01it may be helping it reproduce.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05And the way that flowers have changed over time is mimicked
0:26:05 > 0:26:06by the bees
0:26:06 > 0:26:10because they've had to become much more efficient, productive about
0:26:10 > 0:26:14the way they get their fast food and their protein in the form of pollen.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17I love watching, when you see the bees
0:26:17 > 0:26:21bringing in the pollen into the hive in their bright yellow sacs,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23these are these little baskets on their legs with hairs
0:26:23 > 0:26:27on the outside so they can gather the pollen more easily.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29The nectar they've got in, I suppose the easiest way
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- of explaining it, it's sort of like a tank, really, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36And they manage to carry so much! Up to a third of their body weight.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40What I like about the pollen baskets is the way they fill them so neatly.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43They are like little capsules of pollen at the end there.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46- Perfectly balanced.- Perfectly balanced on either side
0:26:46 > 0:26:48otherwise they'd be flying in circles. That wouldn't work.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51They do a lot of flying around. 2,000 flowers a day,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53a bee can visit. And in the course of its lifetime,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58perhaps 44,000 flowers can be visited by a bee.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01So you've got this remarkable process of plants and bees working
0:27:01 > 0:27:06together over millions of years to shape the perfect organisms.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Not quite perfect. Otherwise it wouldn't be going anywhere else.
0:27:09 > 0:27:10There's always going to be variation,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13so the honeybee could get even better, Martha.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16I find that hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25So we've been looking at the whole way that flowers have evolved,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28with their wonderful scent, beautiful bright colours
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and, on occasion, rather bizarre shapes like that foxglove over there.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34It's all because of their relationship with bees
0:27:34 > 0:27:36and other pollinating insects.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40And without that, we'd be living in a much more boring world.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43In fact, gardens like this would be predominantly green.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Yet ironically, given how beautiful we find flowers, bees
0:27:51 > 0:27:56see them and the rest of the world very differently from the way we do.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58When we look at the flowers in this garden,
0:27:58 > 0:28:03we see a range of attractive hues. Blues and yellows, reds and mauves.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07It's easy to assume that the bees see exactly the same thing.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09But they don't.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Just as dogs can hear sounds at a much higher frequency
0:28:14 > 0:28:15than the human ear,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19so bees can see a different range of light waves to us.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Now a team from Queen Mary University, London,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30led by Professor Lars Chittka,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33has been doing pioneering work to investigate
0:28:33 > 0:28:37exactly how bees use vision as a signpost to find nectar.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42And how flowers, in turn, help them to do so.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Bees need to be careful shoppers in the floral supermarket.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49There are many flower species out there that all differ
0:28:49 > 0:28:53in their quality, that is how much nectar and pollen they offer.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Bees need to remember which floral advertising advertises
0:28:57 > 0:28:59the best products, the best nectar for them.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02And to do that, they use a completely hidden dimension
0:29:02 > 0:29:04to us, that is the ultraviolet.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08There are patterns in flowers that are a secret to our colour vision,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11but they're obvious for bees, that help them remember flowers
0:29:11 > 0:29:14and locate the nectar in the flowers once they've detected them.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19It all comes down to the different ways that flowers
0:29:19 > 0:29:22either absorb or reflect ultraviolet lights.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25These two flowers, for example,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29that look rather similarly yellow to us, to human observers,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31look completely different for a bee.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36The one I am holding in my right hand is homogenously UV absorbing,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40whereas this bidens flower is two-coloured.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43The periphery of these petals reflects ultraviolet,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46whereas the centre does not. It's completely black in the ultraviolet.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49So what looks like a homogenously yellow flower to us
0:29:49 > 0:29:52is actually a two-coloured flower for a bee.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02To reveal exactly how this works, we are setting up
0:30:02 > 0:30:06a specially adapted camera that can detect ultraviolet light.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12This is the first time Lars has been able to see moving images
0:30:12 > 0:30:13of the bees in action.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The nectar and the pollen in these flowers is in the centre.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26These flowers present a kind of bull's-eye pattern where the
0:30:26 > 0:30:30periphery is a brightly shining UV signal that can be seen from
0:30:30 > 0:30:34a distance, whereas the centre of the flower absorbs the ultraviolet.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37And this pattern guides the bee to the centre
0:30:37 > 0:30:39so she can locate the nectar and the pollen there.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48It's just amazing what the ultraviolet camera reveals.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55It shows the secret signals sent by flowers,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00which guide the bees to the exact place where the nectar is hidden.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Well, those are flowers as we haven't seen them before.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18What intrigues me is that they make themselves attractive to bees
0:31:18 > 0:31:21in so many different ways, don't they? Shape, I guess.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Colour, scent. So why go this far?
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Well, those things you're describing are like the shop front.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29They get the bees in. This is showing them exactly where the goodies are.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31- It saves a little bit of time for the bees.- Why does that matter?
0:31:31 > 0:31:34Imagine, every time they visit a flower, they save half a second.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37They might visit 2,000 flowers in a day, that's 1,000 seconds.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39That's about 15 minutes that they save.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42That's either more flowers they can visit, or they can get back
0:31:42 > 0:31:45to the hive before the weather turns, before the rains come in.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48So it's really, really good for them just to hone that trip down.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51But it's a symbiotic relationship, isn't it?
0:31:51 > 0:31:52So what do the flowers get out of it?
0:31:52 > 0:31:55The flowers get more and more visits from bees.
0:31:55 > 0:31:56That is what is perfect for them.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58It gets those bees into the middle, where the pollen is,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01which is brilliant for bees, it means they get covered in pollen,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04they get more and more trips in there. So they get more pollination.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10But bees don't just use ultraviolet light to find nectar more quickly.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14They also use a skill that's very rare in the animal world,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16a time-saving trick that allows them
0:32:16 > 0:32:21to pack the hive with as much nectar and pollen as they can.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26We can't see it, but we can hear it, with a little help from technology.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Scientist Dominic Clarke is setting up a remarkable
0:32:34 > 0:32:37experiment in our garden.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44He's hoping to reveal the way bees and flowers use electric fields
0:32:44 > 0:32:48to communicate with one another, a kind of super sense.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53When a bee flies around,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56she picks up a positive charge from the air.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00This positive charge interacts with a negative charge
0:33:00 > 0:33:03that's held by the flower, and when the bee lands,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06these two opposite charges create an electric field between them.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08And this can help the bee pollinate the flower.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11It can help pollen jump from the flower to the bee,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14or vice versa, from the bee to the flower.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18What's even more amazing though is that bees can sense
0:33:18 > 0:33:22these electric fields and detect when changes have taken place.
0:33:22 > 0:33:27So could they and the flowers be using this as the floral equivalent
0:33:27 > 0:33:29of a fuel gauge to help the bee judge
0:33:29 > 0:33:31when a flower is running low on nectar?
0:33:34 > 0:33:38That's what Dominic is hoping to discover.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42We can hear the electrical interaction
0:33:42 > 0:33:43between the bee and the flower
0:33:43 > 0:33:46if we connect the flower up to a speaker.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56These electrodes take the current in the flower and turn it
0:33:56 > 0:33:59into a sound that we can hear, a little bit like a bat detector.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02BEEPING
0:34:10 > 0:34:13As the bee approaches a flower to take nectar,
0:34:13 > 0:34:15we hear the signal change.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18BEEPING GETS SHRILLER
0:34:18 > 0:34:21That's because the bee's positive charge interacts
0:34:21 > 0:34:24with the flower's negative charge,
0:34:24 > 0:34:29and changes what scientists call the flower's electrical signature.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32When the bee's finished feeding and flies away,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37this electrical signature remains altered for some time afterwards.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42So what happens when a bee approaches a flower
0:34:42 > 0:34:47that's just been visited, and hasn't yet reloaded its nectar supply?
0:34:47 > 0:34:49She flies straight past.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57The change in the flower's electric field lasts just around 100 seconds,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00and this may be just enough time for it to replenish its nectar
0:35:00 > 0:35:02supplies, re-gain its negative charge
0:35:02 > 0:35:05and signal to the bees that it's once again open for business.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11This is so ingenious, isn't it?
0:35:11 > 0:35:14I've watched bees loads of times on the big clump of flowers
0:35:14 > 0:35:17and wondered why they kept flying past certain ones.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19This is great, this is honesty in nature.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21So the flower really wants to be able to say to the bee,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23"Don't bother wasting your time, don't learn that I am bad,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27"don't learn I'm a tease." It wants to tell the bee, "Don't bother with this.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30"We've not got nectar yet." So it almost turns the lights out.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Imagine a big house and you've turned the lights out
0:35:32 > 0:35:34of the rooms it's not worth looking in.
0:35:34 > 0:35:35That's what the plants are doing.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38And do we have any sense of how the bees detect
0:35:38 > 0:35:40- that electric field? - They're covered in hairs,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43which will probably be deflected by those electric charges.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45The hairs are wired up to their nervous system,
0:35:45 > 0:35:47so it's probably something to do with that.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57Still to come - we've seen how individual bees behave,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01but now we'll be using our hi tech tricks to explore the many ways
0:36:01 > 0:36:06this hive works as a super organism to keep the precious brood alive.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15As the bees come and go, buzzing in and out of our hives,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19it's easy to forget that they didn't always live like this.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Long before we started to keep them for their honey,
0:36:22 > 0:36:27these were wild animals. And some of them still are.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33I want to find out whether bees behave differently
0:36:33 > 0:36:35when they are left to their own devices,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38without a beekeeper in sight.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42My guide is naturalist Brett Westwood.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46- It's a nice spot, isn't it?- It is. - Quiet little valley.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48It's a lovely little valley.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52And there they are. Busy as they can be.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Wild honeybees like these obviously don't have the benefit
0:36:57 > 0:37:02of a ready-made hive, so they've got to rely on natural cavities
0:37:02 > 0:37:05in rocks, or hollow trees like this one.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11I'm going to tuck in down here, out of their direct flight line.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13Yeah, it's best to be on either side of them.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16You don't want a face full of wild honeybee.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Well, they'll use the sun and the landscape
0:37:20 > 0:37:22when they come out, to get their bearings.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25So if you're standing there and they can see your silhouette,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27you destroy their picture as you emerge,
0:37:27 > 0:37:29and that's unsettling for them.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32These are feral bees, aren't they? These are not wild bees.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35This one's pretty wild, the one buzzing around me at the moment!
0:37:35 > 0:37:38It's a good question. I presume they're feral bees,
0:37:38 > 0:37:42because the big question with any bees' nest out in the wild
0:37:42 > 0:37:45that's not being managed in a hive, is, where did they come from?
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Are they bees that have just escaped from domesticated colonies,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52or could they be a remnant of the old, British...
0:37:52 > 0:37:55Well, the North European dark bee, as it is called,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58the dark honeybee, sometimes called the black bee.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00Some people maintain that they're out there somewhere.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02It's a bit like the Holy Grail of beekeeping.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05This lost British race which do look appreciably different...
0:38:05 > 0:38:10- You're getting a bit bothered. - I think I'm going to put this on. I'm being investigated.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12That's better.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16This is perhaps the closest we'll get to wild bees in the UK today,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19- isn't it?- I think it probably is. But I think they're fascinating,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21because they don't need people around them at all.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25They're out there foraging, they're building their cones, they're connecting the nectar,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27and they're raising young and queens
0:38:27 > 0:38:30and presumably swarming entirely independent of us.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I'll tell you what, why don't we get the endoscope out of its box
0:38:37 > 0:38:40and you stick it in there, and we'll see what we can see from the inside.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44'Using this specialist camera, we are hoping
0:38:44 > 0:38:49'to get right inside the hidden parts of the nesting cavity.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52'Perhaps even finding the chamber where they raise their young.'
0:38:55 > 0:39:00- Can you see...- That's fantastic! - How am I doing?- It's glorious.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04- It gives a lovely perspective, Brett.- OK.- As steady as you can.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Have you been drinking very, very, very heavily in the last 24 hours?!
0:39:08 > 0:39:11- That's better.- That's about as steady as I can go.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I've just shortened the length.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17I've got bees' faces and abdomens filling the frame.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20They're swarming over the front of the endoscope at the moment.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24I've got a bee's tongue licking the tip of the endoscope.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26THEY LAUGH
0:39:27 > 0:39:31You can see all of their anatomy, their hairy bellies.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- The tongues and eyes. - Ah! Another one got me.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38- Ah.- OK.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40- Would you like a go?- I can't wait...
0:39:40 > 0:39:41BRETT LAUGHS
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Ah, right.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54There's a face full of bees now.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Split-second images of huge bees looming out at me
0:39:58 > 0:40:01like a horror film, almost. Hairy limbs...
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Ah! Hang on, hold it. Hold it.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08- That's it, we've got a comb.- We've got it?- Yeah, we've got the comb.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10It's amazing. I've got a view of...
0:40:10 > 0:40:14These are empty cells, these are, from which the bees have emerged.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18They look almost like egg containers, hexagonal egg boxes.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26These wild bees have created a hexagonal comb just like
0:40:26 > 0:40:31the one in our hive, but without the benefit of a frame to build it on.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35This is because it's simply THE most efficient geometric shape
0:40:35 > 0:40:40to maximise the space available to store honey, nectar and pollen.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44This elegant, mathematical design is repeated everywhere you find
0:40:44 > 0:40:49honeybees, whether wild or in hives, and anywhere in the world.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51It's a pattern created by nature,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55and it's lasted for tens of millions of years.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Because it works.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04I mean, it's all to do with temperature regulation, isn't it,
0:41:04 > 0:41:08where they place the combs, to be able to ventilate them
0:41:08 > 0:41:11when it's too warm, and warm them when it's too cold.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16So we would expect the brood combs to be in the heart of this tree,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- wouldn't we?- Yes, yes.- Insulated. - And the honey's even higher up.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22The honeycomb tends to be higher than that, I think,
0:41:22 > 0:41:23because they rely on that over winter,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26so that has to be kept in the warmest place in the tree.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31This is amazing, actually, to think I've walked past this for three...
0:41:31 > 0:41:34Well, maybe four or five years, who knows?
0:41:34 > 0:41:37And I've never, ever had a view quite like this.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41- OK, I'm going to withdraw it, Brett.- OK.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46'Something's happening here that we don't often see in our hive.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50'These workers are acting as guard bees, attacking the probe,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54'because they think that it's a threat to their colony.'
0:41:54 > 0:41:57You can see how angry the bees are.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01They're swarming over the tip of this endoscope.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03But this is what they're doing,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05in terms of their duty to protect the nest.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10They're responding with the swarm mentality.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13- Amazing.- I think though, probably a good idea
0:42:13 > 0:42:17- to leave them in peace now. They're getting quite excited. - It's been good though, hasn't it?
0:42:17 > 0:42:19It's been most enjoyable. I've never seen...
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Well, enjoyable is probably the wrong word! But it's been revealing.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37It's amazing to see how bees behave in the wild,
0:42:37 > 0:42:41so similar to the way they act in our hive.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45It's not just the way they behave as individuals,
0:42:45 > 0:42:49but the way the colony works as a whole.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Constantly adapting to changes happening in the outside world.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56Take a look at this.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59This is our thermal camera's view of our beehive.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06At this time of year, high summer, the temperature outside these hives
0:43:06 > 0:43:10can reach a peak of well over 30 degrees centigrade.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Now, that's uncomfortable for us,
0:43:12 > 0:43:17but for the bees, inside that hive, a heat wave can be a killer.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25'And just how they stay cool is a real feat of ingenuity,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28'skill and teamwork.'
0:43:29 > 0:43:31But of course, this is the hive that we've got bugged, as it were.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Mini cameras here.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37The whole thing is on scales, with this green contraption here.
0:43:37 > 0:43:38And even more exciting,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40deep in the heart of it we've got our thermometer.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Yeah, that thermometer's on the brood itself,
0:43:42 > 0:43:45but also we have a thermometer on the outside of the hive,
0:43:45 > 0:43:47so we can see the difference between in and out.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50I, in fact, have got this remote gadget here which is set up
0:43:50 > 0:43:53to show us just that. So here's the hive,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55with the variable conditions we've got here.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59Temperature, brood temperature, humidity, and of course the weight.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04Let's have a look at what we've got in terms of daily temperature.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07Two things on this graph then, we've got the exterior
0:44:07 > 0:44:10- and then we've got brood temperature from that internal thermometer.- Yep.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14- And it's a striking graph to look at.- I mean, just look at that, Adam.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18- It's highly variable outside. - Yes, you can see day and night.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20You can see the temperature rising then dropping again,
0:44:20 > 0:44:24exactly what you'd expect. And then it almost looks like it's broken.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26But actually when you zoom in you realise it isn't.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29- That's a genuine reading. It's that constant.- That's a genuine reading.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31And they're keeping it at about... Well, not about.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35It's 34.1 degrees in there, and it's really not varying at all.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38It's just flat-lining across. And that's actively being done.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41This isn't just responding to what's going on, they're doing this.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43OK, so they've got two jobs, basically.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46The first thing is, they have to keep it cool. The other thing is, keep it warm.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Let's deal with the warm first. How are they keeping this warm?
0:44:49 > 0:44:52Well, what the bees can do is disconnect their flight muscles
0:44:52 > 0:44:54from their wings. So it's almost like revving a car
0:44:54 > 0:44:57when you're in the garage or something. You drop the clutch,
0:44:57 > 0:45:00you can get the engine running. And that's exactly what they're doing.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04vibrating those muscles and producing heat. But they need energy to do that. So it's not free.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06It's costly for them to do,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08but it's worth it because it keeps the brood just perfect.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11So, that's another reason why they're collecting honey?
0:45:11 > 0:45:12So they can burn that honey
0:45:12 > 0:45:15so that they can exercise their muscles to keep the brood
0:45:15 > 0:45:18- at the optimum temperature for development, I take it?- Yes.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20The foraging isn't just about storing stuff for winter.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23It's about keeping the hive going through summer, building up,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26getting those reserves in. So it's all to do with getting energy.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30OK, so muscle power keeps it warm.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32What about ventilating it, or keeping it cool?
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Muscle power again, actually. They start fanning their wings
0:45:35 > 0:45:38and generate a nice air current through the hive.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40But they can add a little bit of cooling to that, because they
0:45:40 > 0:45:43can regurgitate water into the hive and get some evaporative cooling.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46- You've probably seen bees and wasps collecting water.- I have.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Yeah, on the pond, or any dish outside. Bird baths.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Sometimes the bees will come to that and drink furiously.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Yeah, they use that to cool the hive. They also use it to cool themselves.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57So they can regurgitate over their own faces and thorax
0:45:57 > 0:46:00- to make the body cool down as they are flying.- Is that right?
0:46:00 > 0:46:03So they make themselves almost artificially sweat, as it were?
0:46:03 > 0:46:05And while you were talking, I was looking down here.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09Look, there are three bees here fanning furiously now.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11Is that part of the cooling process then?
0:46:11 > 0:46:13No, this is more to do with the air-traffic control.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Bees are very good at navigating large distances,
0:46:16 > 0:46:18but they're not so good at finding the entrance to the hive.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20These bees are releasing what's called
0:46:20 > 0:46:24Nasanov pheromone, and there's a nice plume of it coming out here
0:46:24 > 0:46:26that these incoming bees can lock into,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28just like landing lights at an airport, to find that entrance.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32And look, they're in line. There are two distinct lines of bees.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36- Yeah!- Head to backside, head to backside.- Building out that plume.
0:46:36 > 0:46:37That's fantastic, isn't it?
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Foraging bees don't have much time left to live,
0:46:51 > 0:46:54which means that all through the summer, the hive must
0:46:54 > 0:46:58constantly replenish its numbers, just to keep the colony going.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02So as well as producing honey,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05there's another thing they need to make.
0:47:05 > 0:47:06Baby bees.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16This is when our cameras captured a truly magical site.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24The exact moment when a single bee emerges from her pupa.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28With just a little reluctance.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34She began life three weeks ago as a grub, or larva,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36hatched out of a tiny egg.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Since then, she's lived in her own individual cell,
0:47:41 > 0:47:45cared for as attentively as any human baby.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49An army of worker bees performs the role of nurse maids,
0:47:49 > 0:47:51feeding her honey and pollen.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58Finally, she emerges to take her place amongst the thousands of others
0:47:58 > 0:48:03in our hive, and to begin performing her duties to keep the colony going.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18As one of our honeybees flits from flower to flower, she may
0:48:18 > 0:48:23look as if she's working alone, but she's very much part of a team.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27As well as collecting nectar and pollen, she is also gathering
0:48:27 > 0:48:31intelligence which she takes back to her fellow bees in the hive.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40You've probably heard of the waggle dance, the famous ritual
0:48:40 > 0:48:44where bees communicate to each other where the best flowers can be found.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46So how does it actually work?
0:48:46 > 0:48:49If you take a look at our observation hive,
0:48:49 > 0:48:51you can see it in a lot more detail.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54What the bee does is, when she's come back from foraging,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57she traces a figure of eight in the hive,
0:48:57 > 0:49:02then at exactly the same point every time, she shakes her booty,
0:49:02 > 0:49:03if you like, she waggles her abdomen,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07to tell the bees the direction of the best flowers.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10But actually, there's an awful lot more going on than that.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13Adam, because as well as the direction of the flowers,
0:49:13 > 0:49:15she's also telling us the distance.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Yeah, it's great to know which direction to go in,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19but if you know how far to go, it's really good.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21And that's exactly what she's doing.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23The length of time that she does that waggle for
0:49:23 > 0:49:25correlates with the distance that the flowers are.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28So the longer she dances for, the further they are away.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36And the other thing that I find so amazing is, we are able to see it
0:49:36 > 0:49:40here in bright, clear light. She's doing it in the dark.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43The other bees are gathering around her in the dark that is
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- inside the frame of a hive.- Yeah, this is all about touch and feel
0:49:46 > 0:49:48and vibrations through the comb. They're communicating in that way.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50Like you say, we're doing it visually.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52It's easy for us to read their language.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55For them, they have to do it through their antennae and legs.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57And also, the more vigorously that she does her waggle,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00- the better the quality of the flowers?- Yes, that's right.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01So not just distance and direction,
0:50:01 > 0:50:03but they can also communicate quality.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06And as you say, the more dances they do, the more circuits they perform,
0:50:06 > 0:50:08is related to how good the nectar is.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11So she's almost playing more vigorous advertising for that site,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13and that attracts more bees to that site,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15and they start playing the advert as well.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16It's a brilliant way for them
0:50:16 > 0:50:20- to get all the workers that they need to the right resources. - It really is, isn't it?
0:50:20 > 0:50:24And I know that some bee experts say it's the most sophisticated
0:50:24 > 0:50:27- form of communication amongst non-humans.- Yeah, absolutely.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30We're used to ants and things communicating with pheromones
0:50:30 > 0:50:33and chemicals, but that's not really going to work for them,
0:50:33 > 0:50:35trying to find their way around kilometres of countryside.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38They have to have some way of communicating that.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41- That's exactly what they've evolved. - Really, so pheromones wouldn't work,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43because they're going up to three miles from the hive?
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Yeah, they'll diffuse in the environment. There's nowhere they can follow it.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49The other thing is, pheromones are very public.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52Other bees can follow them, other predators might be able to find them.
0:50:52 > 0:50:57- This way, they keep all their communication private.- So secretive. It's their code, I suppose, isn't it?
0:50:57 > 0:50:59- A kind of code.- Absolutely. The beauty is, we can eavesdrop.
0:50:59 > 0:51:00Using our observation hive,
0:51:00 > 0:51:02we can find out where the bees have been.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05They're the only animal that can tell us where they've been foraging.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08This is where you've also been tagging some bees, haven't you?
0:51:08 > 0:51:10That's right. You can see them leaving the hive.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13That's the wire coming from the microphone that's inside.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16They're just popping out of the entrance.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18We should see some of... There is one, with the red tag on it.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20- Ah, yes.- Red, number 36.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23- Number 36 coming. Your time's up!- Yep.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27- Here's another one coming out, look. - Number 78, obviously.- Yes, red 78.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29So she's been an adult for about two weeks.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31So she's starting to make her way out of the hive.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33And they're so curious, aren't they,
0:51:33 > 0:51:38about something that is alien in the hive, ie our microphone.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40It smells different, feels different.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Yep, they're very defensive about what's going on in there.
0:51:43 > 0:51:44And she's headed off.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47So will we be able to discover what's going to happen to her?
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Yeah, well, hopefully she'll make it back.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51But we know where she might be going
0:51:51 > 0:51:53because we've been following some of those waggle dances,
0:51:53 > 0:51:55and we're sending our military helicopter out
0:51:55 > 0:51:57to see where they might be foraging.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04In the meantime, news is breaking inside the hive.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07A bee has just arrived back and is telling the others
0:52:07 > 0:52:12about a brand-new source of nectar that's just coming on stream.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Looking at the waggle dance, it seems the bee is telling us
0:52:15 > 0:52:21that the new supply is 1.2km away, about 22 degrees west of due north.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Well, that's what they seem to be signalling,
0:52:31 > 0:52:33so can we follow them using our ultimate
0:52:40 > 0:52:43gadget? Just over a kilometre away, in the direction predicted
0:52:43 > 0:52:48by our dancing bee, a hedgerow is coming into bloom,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51absolutely packed with bramble blossom.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57And bees, filling their tanks to the brim with nectar and pollen.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06This is great news for our hive.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08With the brambles finally in flower,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11there should be plenty of food for the next few weeks.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18More good news, bee 78 does return, laden with nectar.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21But, given that she's still learning her way around
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and needs to make dozens of flights
0:53:24 > 0:53:28and visit thousands of flowers each day, she's going to be very busy.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Predators, bad weather or simply running out of fuel
0:53:31 > 0:53:36and getting lost, are just some of the challenges she'll have to face.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39We'll find out if she survives next time.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51With fine weather, and plenty of nectar-rich flowers,
0:53:51 > 0:53:55it may look as if our bees are having things pretty easy.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59But appearances can be deceptive.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03These animals are always living on a knife edge.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Just when we thought that everything was fine,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09something extraordinary happened.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13One morning, we came down to our observation hive to find
0:54:13 > 0:54:18that all of the bees had cleared out without any warning.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Probably because a spell of cold and wet weather
0:54:21 > 0:54:24had meant they weren't getting enough food.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Fortunately, our beekeeper John spotted them
0:54:27 > 0:54:30resting on a hedge in another part of the garden.
0:54:32 > 0:54:38They are clustering and preparing to make a small home,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40possibly tonight,
0:54:40 > 0:54:44and tomorrow morning they'll then fly off and continue
0:54:44 > 0:54:49searching for an ideal home in which they will develop the colony.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54The next step will be to put a box underneath and just help them
0:54:54 > 0:54:58into a box, and the queen will then settle down
0:54:58 > 0:55:03because there will be frames of food and pollen.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07The colony will get larger, and then she will be transferred into
0:55:07 > 0:55:08a full-size hive
0:55:08 > 0:55:13and be used next year for honey gathering and pollination.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16- And what are you thinking now? - How lucky I am to find her.
0:55:20 > 0:55:27This is just a reminder of how precarious the life of a hive is.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29And it's all down to the queen.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33If at any moment she thinks the colony's threatened,
0:55:33 > 0:55:38she may head off, taking thousands of followers with her.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45There's a great saying among beekeepers, which is - the bees
0:55:45 > 0:55:47don't read the same books that we do.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50And that is so true. Cos there's always something you can find out
0:55:50 > 0:55:51about their incredible lives.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54I haven't been reading enough of the right books, because I learned
0:55:54 > 0:55:57something today I should have figured out for myself.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01I always thought that once the workers had a role in the hive,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04as a nursemaid, as a guard, as a nectar bearer, a pollen sorter,
0:56:04 > 0:56:07whatever, they stuck with that throughout their lives.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10I didn't realise that they matured into foraging insects.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I'm quite cross about that because it's pretty obvious.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15- I should have figured that out. - Which job do you fancy, then?
0:56:15 > 0:56:17I'd be an instant forager.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19- It's a bit too claustrophobic in there for me.- Not a nursemaid?
0:56:19 > 0:56:22No, no, I'm after nectar. There's no doubt about that.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24I think I quite fancy being a bouncer.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27Isn't it great we can find all this out with something as simple
0:56:27 > 0:56:29- as an observation hive?- Yeah. - It's the observing part of it
0:56:29 > 0:56:32that I've enjoyed so much. Because of course I've seen bees
0:56:32 > 0:56:34going in and out of their hives thousands of times.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38But it was that close-up, slow motion photography that made me
0:56:38 > 0:56:40realise how precarious their lives are.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43Particularly when you saw them taking off for flight.
0:56:43 > 0:56:44They were really wobbling around.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Or trying to land on flowers to get the nectar and pollen.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49It's not easy out there for them.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52We've already learned a lot, but we've got a lot more to learn too.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54By next week, we should advance what we know.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56We've got the scales on the hives,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59so we could see a lot more honey being brought in.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01I suppose that depends on the weather.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03We've got our marked bees too.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Will they be spending more time outside foraging, those youngsters?
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And then, of course, there's the queen. Will she carry on laying eggs?
0:57:10 > 0:57:13You never know, she might even swarm.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17We're also going to be looking at our relationship with the world
0:57:17 > 0:57:21of bees, how bees can help us in the most surprising of ways.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24And actually, what's extremely important is how we can help them.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27And in the interest of science, I'm going to be finding out
0:57:27 > 0:57:29exactly what happens to my body when I get stung.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31I can give you a tip there, mate.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34- It might start with a small amount of pain.- Yes!- For sure!
0:57:34 > 0:57:35- Goodbye.- Goodbye.- Goodbye.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48# Sisters, sisters
0:57:48 > 0:57:51# There were never such devoted sisters
0:57:51 > 0:57:56# Never had to have a chaperone, no, sir
0:57:56 > 0:58:00# I'm here to keep my eye on her
0:58:00 > 0:58:04# Those who've seen us
0:58:04 > 0:58:08# Know that not a thing could come between us
0:58:08 > 0:58:15# Many men have tried to split us up But no-one can
0:58:17 > 0:58:20# All kinds of weather We stick together
0:58:20 > 0:58:24# The same in the rain or sun
0:58:24 > 0:58:29# Two different faces But in tight places
0:58:29 > 0:58:32# We think and we act as one
0:58:32 > 0:58:39# But don't come between me and my man! #