insects

Flashback 2013 /  by kelly heaton

I'm going through old designs and came across these circuits for Electrolier (Summer Night), 2013. These fictional moths are made from a flexible PCB material (backed with decorative velvet). I built analog electronic circuits to generate the sound of insects at night. One of the photos shows the leaves that I built with blinking fireflies.

pollinators: death to drones /  by kelly heaton

As cold weather approaches, the worker bees (female) expel the drones (male) in preparation for winter.  Drones can be identified by their larger eyes that meet in the center, as well as their larger black abdomen.  The smaller, active bees are the females working to remove the dead.  Bees in this role are known as "undertakers" for the hive.  Nearly all of the bees in this video are dead or dying drones on the ground in front of their once nurturing hive.  In another month or two, the remaining worker bees will form a tight cluster around the queen, vibrating their wings to keep the colony warm (a remarkable 94 - 98 degrees F in the center); and rationing their honey supply until Spring.  

This video also shows signs of hygienic behavior - notice the drone larvae which appear affected by Varroa mites.  I am doing a mite count to see if I need to treat this hive.
September 2014 / Clarke County, Virginia