Gerald Kastberger Narrated by Sir David Attenborough 2007 DVD (first available on video in 2001)51 minutes (VID17) English and German. MAY NOT BE COMPATIBLE with USA equipment. A marvellous film that fascinates everyone. It follows the journey of a giant honey bee colony as it migrates from the foothills of the Himalayas to the plains of Assam. There is fantastic filming of the giant honey bee Apis dorsata: how the colony lives and works, defending itself from predators, and most remarkably, gathering to leave on migration. We see as if from the eye of the bee as she flies south over forest and rivers. The colony has to stop several times en route, each time for a few days, to fill up with fuel (nectar) for the next leg of the journey. Journey's end is a majestic silk cotton Bombax ceiba tree in the plains of Assam. This 'Magic Tree' is full of Apis dorsata colonies. But how do they know to come here? Only the queen may have been here last year: the workers and drones are too short lived to have been before. The beginning of the film focuses on the defensive nature of the giant bees. Then it goes on to show exactly why they have to be so defensive: predators include not only Yacoub, the highly skilled, agile and confident village honey hunter, but also giant spiders, honey buzzards, wasps and ants. This film is in a class of its own and not on general release: copies are available only for educational use. PLEASE NOTE: We are unable to provide technical support for any DVD or video we supply. We cannot be responsible for incompatibilities with your system