Beehavior: Extracting the Sweetness is an interactive exhibit at the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center currently open for viewing for during the center’s open hours.
“The importance of bees as pollinators has increasingly become common knowledge. However, most people have a natural fear and aversion to these animals, they are bugs and they can sting, after all!” Professor Michael Dillon said regarding the interactive bee exhibit. “We hope that, in some small way, this installation promotes understanding and personal connections to bees, replacing fear and aversion with wonder and respect.”
Dillon continued, “This installation has come out of a collaboration between Professor Carlisle and myself that begin in 2014 with the Ucross Pollination Experiment when we first started working together. We developed the idea as part of a National Science Foundation funded project that aims to understand how bumblebees thrive both in lowland deserts and on the tops of mountains.”
Ucross Pollination Experiment is an organization founded in Wyoming that works to connect science and art to better understand the natural world. Beehavoir: Extracting the Sweetness was developed by Ashley Carlisle, Michael Dillon and other associates to create an interactive learning experience for people of all ages to enjoy.
Funding for the project comes from a grant through the National Science Foundation.
“A key part of this grant is to bring elements of the science directly to the public,” Dillon said.
There are a multitude of opportunities to learn more about the importance of bees at this exhibit.
First, is the “Young Explorer” which is a video stimulation, equipped with headphones, that allows visitors to experience the life of a bee; then, there is a large cone hanging from the ceiling with an explanation the life cycle of the bee.
Another is “Collection,” which is an approximately 4-foot replica of a bee leg with pieces of pollen, displaying how, As bumble bees visit flowers, pollen stick to the hairs, (“pile”) all over their bodies. In flight, they groom the pollen from their bodies and pack it onto baskets on their hind legs (“corbicula”), as described on a plaque in collaboration to Carlisle’s piece.
Opposite of the “Collection” is “Discrimination” created by Carlisle and Dillon and is a vibrating replica of a bee body, made of soft yellow fabric, simulating the vibrations that a bee makes when it flaps its wings.
Continuing through the exhibit the “Beehavior” portion consists of a scavenger hunt where participants must identify the different types of bees on various bullseyes in the exhibit.
“Parts is Parts” is a creation by the collaboration of Carlisle and Dillon that shows and describes enlarged antenna, wing, sting and tongue of bees.
Along the wall is “Buffet,” which is a piece of painted wildflowers with removable replicas of the plants’ pollen in the bottom right hand corner of each piece.
The final portion of the exhibit is the “Bee a High Flier: Bumble Bee Flight Simulator.” This game is meant to teach players about how bees continue to pollenate flowers at several different elevations. Through this interactive game, of which the object is to gain as many pink flowers by flapping your arms to imitate the wings of a bee, recorded by an Xbox Live, players can see the effects of elevations changes to bees’ behavior.
“Engaging the public, and particularly kids, in ongoing research is critical both for fostering an appreciation for the natural world and for nurturing that inner scientist I believe we all have. The importance of bees as pollinators has increasingly become common knowledge,” Dillon said.
