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Clip description
With the din of humming bees ever-present, Australia’s largest live honeybee exporter, Warren Taylor, gives a tour of his apiary. Bees are being smoked out of their hives, collected and crated to be shipped off to the United States in time for almond season.
Curator’s notes
The tone is grim as both the narrator (Jenny Vuletic) and Taylor state that this trip will mean certain death-by-Varroa destructor mite for many of these bees. This clip brings to light the pure industrialisation and commercialisation of honeybees. By now, the viewer has been made aware that Australian honeybees are the only bees yet unaffected by Varroa destructor, thus making obvious the desperate nature of the problem and creating a sense of urgency to correct it.
