MovieChat Forums > The Wasp Woman (1959) Discussion > Opening and closing shots of the hive

Opening and closing shots of the hive


In the opening and closing shots, we are shown a close-up of a busy hive. But it sure looked as if the insects shown were bees, not wasps!

Am I wrong here? Sure looked like bees to me....and I'm hoping they were bees, since that increases the camp factor of the film to an even higher level. And for me, the campy-er the better...

Campy-er....is that even a word? :)

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I just watched it and the first thing I thought was, "They're bees."

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oh no, they're totally bees.

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This film's science is all over the place - yes, it shows bees when it's supposed to be about wasps.

The plot point is about extracting an enzyme from wasp royal jelly as an experimental youth restoration formula... BUT wasps don't make royal jelly. Bees make royal jelly (not wasps). So when we look at the bee hive visuals and the use of royal jelly in the story, maybe they got bees & wasps mixed up, or maybe they just wanted an alliterative title and went with "Wasp Woman."

Then there was the result of testing the formula on guinea pigs - instead of rejuvenating them it somehow changed their species and turned them into rats! 😅

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