My Garden of a Thousand Bees

The 2022 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will highlight positive environmental stories from the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism movement. A highlight of “Earth Optimism × Folklife” is the outdoor screening of the one-hour documentary film, "My Garden of a Thousand Bees."

“The first film of our season was called My Garden of a Thousand Bees, and it came out of COVID,” he explains. “Wildlife macro photographer, Martin Dorn, who lives in Bristol, England, has extraordinary lenses and rigs where he shoots insects. And because he couldn’t go out and he couldn’t travel, he decided, ‘I want to shoot the bees in my garden. I’ve always been interested in them and now I have the time to actually spend to film them.’”

The World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) announced the nominations for the Buzzies, the group’s awards celebrating the best in science and factual storytelling, on Thursday (Oct. 21). The Buzzies recognize science, history and natural history projects in short- and long-form programs and multi-platform work, as well as for innovation and impact.

In “My Garden of a Thousand Bees,” premiering Wednesday, Oct 20 (check local listings), as the first installment of the series’ 40th season, wildlife photographer Martin Dohrn uses lockdown to his advantage as he turns his camera on the bees in the backyard of his urban Bristol, England, home.

Thanks to Martin Dohrn and his determination to shine a light on bees’ complex lives and importance to our  ultimate well-being, I guarantee that after watching Nature: My Garden of a Thousand Bees, you’ll never take them for granted again.

When the pandemic lockdown started in 2020, wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn found something interesting to do right in his own backyard. He adapted some of his camera equipment to focus on very tiny creatures and then began filming the bees in his small garden in Bristol, England.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, British wildlife cameraman Martin Dohrn filmed many diverse species of bees in his urban garden for the new episode “My Garden of a Thousand Bees.”

Kicking off the 40th season of the acclaimed documentary series, this film follows wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn as he sets out to record all the bees in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England, filming them with one-of-a-kind lenses he forged at his kitchen table (8 p.m., PBS).

Taking refuge from the coronavirus pandemic, wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn set out to record all the bees he could find in his tiny urban garden in Bristol, England, filming them with one-of-a kind lenses he forged on his kitchen table. Eventually, he gets so close to the bees, he can identify individuals just by looking at them.

"My Garden of a Thousand Bees" premieres on Nature on Wednesday, October 20.