Sunday 31st August 2014

Field Study's Man in E11 is convinced the honeybee featured in the video field studies is none other than the reincarnation of French Utopian socialist Charles Fourier. According to Bee Wilson, in The Hive, Fourier 'was full of weird ideas about the secret symbolism of the universe.' (p.107) One of the field student's reasons for identifying the bee as Charles Fourier is the Utopian socialist's beliefs about Brassicaceae. The field student informed me that the broccoli flowers are, according to Charles, a specific source of pollen essential for the maintenance of naivety in Utopia. 'Surely not!' I protested.

After watching the bees in the field we visited the apiary and mused upon the idea of the hive as a community of reincarnated Utopians.