Where is the rain when the flowers bloom

2022

Video 5min, old beehives, hives, beeswax, candles, beekeeping tools, etc.

Some beekeepers lead a nomadic life, carrying beehives and essential equipment to follow the flowering seasons of different plants in various regions, ensuring their bees have access to pollen. I came across the tent of a beekeeper in a remote mountain area by chance and heard that the beekeeper had tragically passed away here two years ago. Inside the tent, a very small number of bees in the beehives were still struggling to survive and reproduce without human care, and their condition was quite poor.

In the three years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, China's lockdown policies made life even more challenging for grassroots individuals like beekeepers. While climate change and deadly fungi also rendered bees more vulnerable.

I collected beeswax from those abandoned beehives in this desolate tent. I used them as materials to make a small hut and a candle. I imagined that the hut would shelter people and bees from the wind and rain, while the candle would bring more than just light and warmth.