The Monk and the Honey Bee
Dr. M. Mustoe EOU Cultural Geography

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Preface
This incredible film is 90 minutes long. So that means in order to use it in the class we have to edit 40 minutes. That is what has been done. So it is imperative for you to read through this guide and get caught up with what the video is about.

How does this film fit?
The film expresses a cultural ecological perspective. It relates to religion, in that it is about a Benedictine Monk, Brother Adam, who, from the Buckfast Abbey near the Devonshire Valley of England, influences the whole world of entomology at perhaps the same level as Gregor Mendel. It gives examples of the influence of monastic orders on scientific investigations which have traditionally contributed to this kind of human progress since the times of Francis Assisi and Gregor Mendel. So there is a strong religious component to the film. The film also introduces the notion of possibilism especially as applied to the management of agriculture systems.Without bees a generous portion of what you eat would not be available. Manipulating these insects for their profundity, in-turn assists in reinforcing the already existing symbiotic relationship which exists between these insects and people. So, this film is about agriculture which is one of the up and coming systems discussed in this class. This is a world class film about an incredible individual who has indeed produced a super bee. If you are interested in African Bees or just the art/culture of bee keeping this is a great film to experience.

What the Film is About
This film is about the work of Brother Adam a Benedictine Monk of Buckfast Abbey. It is also about geography. He has been instrumental in developing a special variety of honey bee that is known around the world. The Buckfast bee or super bee takes traits from other bees from around the world. Adam's foresight about the control of the spatial diffusion of bee genetics was key to producing this super bee. This bee can be obtained from bee breeders worldwide. It is the gentle, highly productive nature of these bees that make them so popular.

Places
In this film you will be traveling to the following regions:
The United Kingdom, where the abbey is located, The German Swiss Alps, Sweden, and the Mountains of Tanzania.

Key Words and Concepts
The theme of possibilism, formal and functional regions, domestication, transhumance (the seasonal movement of animals), Agricultural Geography. The following places are discussed: Black Forest, mountain range in SW Germany.
Kilimanjaro, Highest mountain in Africa,(19,340 Ft) NE Tanzania. Devonshire, England, SW land of rolling hills...Dartmoor, Exmoor...uplands of rocky forests

Apiary terms:
Rev. L. Langstroth Hive: (The "Father of American Beekeeping" and the innovator of the removable frame hive...a truely American innovation) The hive developed in the United States that contains removable frames of comb. This allows for the inspection of the hive and the harvest of honey without damaging the colony.
Bee House: Hives used mostly in Europe, especially Germany. Bee keepers can walk into these houses to collect honey. Bee Log: Hives used in Africa. They are suspended from trees to keep predators out of the hives. Queen: The mating fertile female of the hive. One per colony.
Drone: Male bees. The function of these bees is strictly breeding. Worker: Non fertile female bees. Comb: Wax foundation where the bees store honey, brood, and pollen. Wax is used from the comb for candles and other products. Honey: Bee-processed nectar of flowers. Brood: Baby bees in the comb. Colony: One Box of bees....usually about 70,000. Swarm: A wild group of bees with a newly emerged queen. Smoke: Used to calm the bees. Africanized Bees: Bees of African source genetics. Propolis: Bee "glue" used to seal the hive and made by the bees. Acarine Disease: A disease of bees produced by a mite that suffocates the bee. The mite resides in the thorax of the bee. This disease has devastated over half the colonies in the United States. Apis Melifera: Italian type Honey bee. Yellow and Black. Monticola: Black Bee of Africa. Almost pure black.

Regions of travel by Adam
1950 Provence (SE France, Rhone River Valley and French Riviera Citrus and olive and mulberry growing region) and, Alps, Italy, Germany, 1952 Algeria, Levant (Countries on the Eastern Shore of the Mediterranean from Egypt through Turkey) and Southern Europe,
1959 Black Bees of Iberia (The peninsula of Spain SW Europe , 1962 Six Med. countries 1976 Sahara. World Regions Represented in the Buckfast Strain of Honey Bees and their behavioral characteristics: 1. French: Honey Gathering, 2. Greek: Good Temper,
3. Egyptians: Calmness, 4. Saharan Bee of Morocco: In the pure strain not prolific but when crossed it is very prolific which is important in honey, 5. Anatolian Bee of Turkey: Honey Gathering but especially thriftiness. It uses a minimum of Stores in winter.

Questions
How can bee keeping equipment (hives) show cultural perspectives? Can the idea of distance decay be present in bee foraging behavior? How do isolated regions help in selective breeding of bees? From what regions in the world do the Buckfast Bees take their characteristics? Why might these characteristic be where they are found?