Bee Archive, A Global Bee Photography Project
Museum of Entomology, Gainesville, Florida
Museum specimen collections possess answers to some of the most prominent questions we face as humans, regarding how we understand our planet and the threats to its biodiversity. Most people will never have the opportunity to peer inside these enigmatic drawers. My project opens these drawers to the public, exposing their content to circulate knowledge on insect pollinator identification and conservation.
Over the past decade, insect pollinator populations have been declining at an alarming rate. While the message continues to spread concerning the crisis of the Western honey bee, these bees are not the only pollinators facing detrimental decline. Several native bee populations, as well as other pollinators, face equally challenging circumstances.
Insect populations are indicator species. The status of their health denotes the health of our ecosystem at large. Degradation of habitat, pesticide misuse, and disease and pests, all contribute to the steady decline in populations. The industrial scale of our agriculture, whose vast monocultures depend upon these pollinators, offers little forage or nutrition.
My project involves photographing the Hymenoptera Collection in the Museum of Entomology, located in Gainesville, FL. As a storehouse for some of the largest entomological collections in the world, this museum is an invaluable, untapped resource, whose contents speak to the biodiversity of our planet, including its threats.
This particular museum’s collection is unique in that it represents the archive as still evolving, as a system in flux. An accessible collection breaks down barriers, allowing for more collaboration to take place on a global scale. As these collections become available to a wider audience, new ways of engaging the public can emerge.