Telling times: More-than-human temporalities in beekeeping

Abstract

In this paper, I build on insights from temporal studies and more-than-human geographies to argue that there is need to delve more deeply into how, by whom, and to what ends the times in which we live become told. Empirically, the practice of beekeeping provides orientation for exploring intertwining temporalities and timescales as more-than-human accomplishments. Drawing on ethnographic research undertaken in Australia, three accounts are developed: the catastrophic futures related to calls to ‘save the bees’; intimate, embodied tempos and negotiated timings of visiting a hive; and seasonal cycles and rhythms beyond but integral to the life of a colony. Employing the concept of ‘telling tim..