Africa Wild

It's rather communication via vibration. A tapping beetle transfers acoustic energy to the ground, and this energy radiates omnidirectionally from its source, creating sort of ‘communication circle’. The acoustic energy relevant to the beetles’ communication travels along the surface of the ground in the form of Rayleigh waves to which tarsal receptors of ohter beetles are sensitive.

These waves don't travel very far, think. The male here did a series of drumming, did not receive any response and went on searching. I assume the disance he walked until the next drumming stop is double the distance these "sounds" can travel, if that make sense

Interesting!

Strange

This talk focusses on wild honeybees as they are the most misunderstood of all bees. Most people know honeybees through the agricultural narrative. Jenny's research of wild bees has taught us about their incredibly complex and interconnected lives. Jenny would like to reveal this not often seen world. Diversity is key to a healthy life for all and a monolithic approach to bees and nature will lead to its demise and ours.

Jenny Cullinan is an artist and bee conservationist. Originally from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, she obtained her Diploma in Fine Art [1992] from Technikon Natal and works as a sculptor. She is the winner of the Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, Durban Botanic Gardens (1998).

Besides her art, Jenny Cullinan works for Ujubee, a bee conservation group dedicated to researching and protecting the wild honeybee in the Western Cape of South Africa.

"Ujubee Conservation is dedicated to the beauty of the bee’s world. All bees. The wild honeybees and the native solitary bees in their natural environments. 'Uju' means 'honey' in the Zulu language, but a taxonomist friend once described Ujubee as: when a person loves bees so much they cannot stop thinking about them, no doubt derived from the multitude meanings of 'honey'. We loved it as we could almost imagine a new species of people; ujubees."

Ujubee and Jenny's work is entirely self-funded. Please do consider supporting their wonderful efforts.

You can visit their website here: www.ujubee.com