Swarms

There was a TV programme tonight, the first of a two parter, about swarms. The bees were extraordinary, covering a man who had used a pheromone spray to mimic the Queen bee, they were even walking in his face, he looked as though he was wearing a bear suit. The starlings were phenomenal, we see them doing their tricks in the sky not far from here, but not on the scale of these, above Rome. They became less welcome after dark, when they found their nighttime roosts. The crabs and ants were fascinating, and the mayflies were beautifully filmed. The flies which were made into fly burgers and the locusts were less appealing, as were the cicadas who burst out of their skins into flying versions. But worst of all for me, were the mice in Australia. Millions and millions of them, literally pouring out of a farm building where pigs lived. Until they focused on just a pair, looking very sweet at the end. I couldn't help drawing a parallel with the human race, individually wonderful, but, en masse, sometimes the power for good gets lost. The programme next week will explore the science of swarming behaviour.