The Secret World of Wild Honey Bees103

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Ingo Arndt's photographs reveal the fascinating life of the wild honeybee as never before. With the help of leading bee researchers, Ingo has spent several years exploring the complex behaviour of forest-dwelling honeybees. His dramatic images take us inside the hive of wild honeybees, to reveal a robust and responsive insect, able to repel attacks and to adapt to a changing environment.
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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) swarm starting a colony inside an abandoned Black woodpecker nest cavity, showing nest entrance from outside, Germany. May.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), in fllight, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera), in flight, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) hive in Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) nest, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony constructing honeycombs inside a tree hole nest, four weeks' progress, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), in flight, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) constructing the first honeycombs inside the top of their tree hole nest cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Close up of a Honey bee (Apis mellifera) forming a 'chain' with other workers as they build a beehive inside a tree hole cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony building a beehive inside an old black woodpecker nest cavity, forming a 'ball' at the top, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), worker bees drinking honey, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Rear view of a Honey bee (Apis mellifera), with corbicula (pollen sacs) full of pollen, Germany. May.

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Ingo Arndt / Thermal imaging of Honey bee (Apis mellifera) brood comb. Cooler parts appear darker, warmer parts appear bright in colour. Very bright spots showing worker bees heating brood cells with the help of t...

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Ingo Arndt / Researcher Benjamin Rutschmann investigates a natural Honey bee (Apis mellifera) hive in a old Black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) nest, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera) swarming on a tree trunk, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera) starting a beehive in a tree nest cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers cleaning the wall around the entrance of a tree hole where they are establishing a colony, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Entrance of a tree bee hive, cut into living pine for tree bee keeping. Tree hive beekeeping is a traditional practice dating back 1000 years, Poland.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony beginning to establish a hive inside an old black woodpecker nest cavity as viewed from outside, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony closing nest entrance to their hive inside an old black woodpecker nest cavity as viewed from outside, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker bees isolate wall inside their nest cavity, close to the entrance, with propolis or bee glue, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker setting a scent track for other bees to find the way to their new beehive inside a tree hole cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera), drinking water on hot summer day, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera), workers exchanging food on honeycomb, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers cleaning the wall around the entrance of their tree hole beehive as seen from within the cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker bees examine a dead worker bee (most likely poisoned by insecticides), Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), worker bee grooming drone, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) worker bee feeding drone, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera) sitting close together on honeycombs to protect and heat the hive at night, Germany. June.

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Ingo Arndt / Close up of a Honey bee (Apis mellifera) queen hatching out of a brood cell, Germany. May. Sequence 4 of 7

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) swarm, Germany. September.

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Ingo Arndt / Pollen balls collected by Honey bees (Apis mellifera) from different flowers, Germany. June.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) mass on wild beehive, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) mass on honeycomb, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Close up of Honey bees (Apis mellifera) forming 'chains' and a 'ball' at the top of their tree hole nest as they establish a colony, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honeycomb (Apis mellifera) structure with empty cells, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) uninhabited wild honeycomb, Germany, November.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera) forming chains to build honeycomb, Germany, May. For sale in the UK only.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) brood cell of queen containing larvae, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bees (Apis mellifera) hatching out of brood cells, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), larvae in cells of brood comb, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) honeycomb cells filled with pollen, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honeycomb cells from honey bee (Apis mellifera) filled with colorful pollen from different flowers, Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) young larvae in cells of brood comb, Germany. May.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) combs showing ring of brood and cells filled with pollen and honey, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), worker bee with wax scales excreted at the underside of the abdomen. Germany

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony constructing honeycombs inside a tree hole nest, seven weeks' work which almost fills the cavity, Germany.

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Ingo Arndt / Honey bee (Apis mellifera), queen surrounded by her court, laying eggs on the broodcomb, Germany.