Imogen's photos with the keyword: Abeille

Weimar Bee Museum, Germany.

Bee Museum, Weimar, Germany. The oldest German museum of Bees, part of the town museum of Weimar. The Bee Museum has a permanent exhibition on the biology and cultural history of Bees and beekeeping. There is a wildflower garden where the bees can forage for nectar and pollen. On display inside and outdoors is a collection of beehives dating from the Middle Ages to late 19th Century, some of which are occupied by Bee colonies.

Honey Bee collecting nectar and pollen from a flower in the Weimar bee museum garden.

Bee hive boxes from the 19th Century decorated with Folk Art and quotes about the innate beauty of Nature. These boxes were used out in the field so the bees could pollinate crops. When not in use, the box hives were stored under canopy to protect the bees from inclement weather.

Beautiful Folk Art scenes painted on these antique German beehive boxes. Most of the themes are amusing like the Bear stealing honey (see inset picture in the note in right hand corner).

Australian native bee, Amegilla Cingulata (Blue Banded Bee) on Salvia flower. This native bee of Australia does not live in a communal hive like the honey bee. Each female makes her own single nest in a burrow in the ground or sometimes in a wall cavity or such like, where she lays her eggs. However, groups of these bees often make their nests in close proximity to each other in a pseudo community. Individual Amegilla live just one season each before dying off in winter. In Spring the eggs hatch and the life cycle carries on once more. Salvia as a group of plants provide a long season of nourishment for native and other bees in Australia and other similar climates.