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Black bee
CULTURAL LIVING HERITAGE
‘the last of their kind’
A series about endangered pet breeds
The Black bee of Texel
The Black bee is a honey bee from Northern and Western Europe. Traditionally lusty and swarming, but later ‘tamed’ by beekeepers. The import of other varieties has affected the Black bee made rare. Only on Texel is there a pure population.
“To photograph the Black Bee, I contacted Jacco van de Ree, beekeeper on Texel. Jacco keeps his Black bees as natural as possible: they are allowed to swarm, they are not treated against diseases and hibernate on their own honey. I wanted to shoot while swarming. But, Jacco said, that only happens once a year; if the temperature, sunlight and the humidity is as desired by the bees. At a time when that opportunity was greatest, I went to Texel for a few days. And it happened! That was magical and special to experience.
I wanted to show the swarming Black bees in a recognizable Texel landscape, preferably with beautiful flowers. Forest ranger Jerome van Abbev then showed me a special and rare see flower field. Full of flowers that bloomed at the time of swarming, such as cuckoo flowers, tuberous buttercups, cow parsley and wild orchids. Result is a flower beauty in a sloping setting with characteristic sheep fines (‘half barns’) and Texel tuunwallen; stacked sods separating plots. Blue grassland as once frequently occurred on this Island. Rougher, richer and more romantic than today’s monotonous green lawns – and the Eldorado for the Black Bee.”
Status: critical
Number of queens: 80
Trend last 15 years: unknown
Thanks to:
Beekeeper Jacco van de Ree (Bee Enigma) and forester Jerome van Abbevé (Natuurmonumenten)
Short about the series
CULTURAL LIVING HERITAGE
‘the last of their kind’
A series on rare pet breeds; the first domesticated (agricultural) pets in danger of extinction. The process of disappearing varieties and crops has accelerated greatly in the last 70 years. I want to stimulate that awareness and the discussion about animal welfare in a positive way through this project. The series should give a nice insight into the different races and their identities. An ode to the dying breed with recognition for the cultural landscape of the provinces where the breed originated or was common. By showing how it used to be or looked like, or should look like, connecting with now.
Tags: bee, black bee, cultural, cultural living heritage, dutch, dutch landscape, fine art, fine art photography, flower landscape, landscape, photography, Texel, the last of their kind