Bee-eater exhibit, Etosha House at Basel Zoo 30/08/09

The Etosha House is probably the best of Basel\'s themed houses - themed both on Namibia and on the food web and animal nutrition.

The bee-eater exhibit is one of the most simple yet brilliant exhibits I have ever seen. The main species is large flock of Northern Carmine Bee-eaters, with nicely landscaped indoor and outdoor enclsoures and good numbers present these would be a great exhibit on their own. The brilliance lies in siting a Honey Bee hive inside the building with the exit adjacent to the bee-eater aviary. This has the effect that the aviary is packed full of bees as well as bee-eaters, and that visitors get to watch these stunning birds catching the bees in mid-flight, bashing them against branches to remove the sting, then gulping them dowm unceremoniously and starting after the next one. Absolutely fascinating to watch and, of course, a wonderful education tool (that doesn\'t even need you to read anything to get the message).

Here, a Northern Carmine Bee-eater repeatedly thrashes its prey to disable its defences!

cracking idea, i wonder if the hive sustains itself enough to give a constant supply or do they have to replace/replenish stocks regularly?
great photos

Cheers!

I expect there's some re-stocking involved - there seemed to be a pretty high rate of predation that I don't think the Honey Bee colony would survive indefinitely!