That beekeeper heart honeycomb image. A thread. pic.twitter.com/55lqUZ4uiI
— Steve Byrne #stayathome #wearfacecoverings (@byrnesong) June 16, 2020
Have you seen this picture before? It recently went viral with a caption about a French beekeeper who neglected to insert frames into a beehive, so the bees went freestyle with their comb and managed to come up with a heart shape. Many people thought that was adorable, while some beekeepers were suspicious. Steve Byrne, an internet folklorist, recalled that he had seen the image before. So he decided to investigate and find the story behind the story -the true origin of the honeycomb image. The journey led him back to 2015, then 2013, and to a South African beekeeper who, seven years later, had physical evidence of the honeycomb he grew that year. And we learn how he did it.
The thing to take away? On the internet, search behind what you see. Don't take things at face value. Don't let your "aww" gene get in the way of thinking, hmm, is this for real? Because there are people out there who seek to use such kindly human instincts in unkind ways. /34
— Steve Byrne #stayathome #wearfacecoverings (@byrnesong) June 17, 2020
You can read the entire story in detail at Twitter, or the simpler Threadreader version if you prefer. -via Nag on the Lake