Here's an earl one-reel short subject on the subject of the bee. It's a subject of long and great fascination to civilization. The bee and the ant have long been exemplars of industry, with the bee held in greater esteem because they produce honey.
Yum! Even the ancients were fascinated by bees. Pliny the Elder, the first writer of encyclopedias, wrote several chapters on bees, as well as others on varieties of honey. While he got a lot wrong -- being the first often results in that -- I find it fascinating how much he got right. Of course, this short is observational and does not ascribe motives as did Pliny, at good. There were also the remnants of color in the print I looked at.
I refuse admit that the director of this short was actually named J.C. Bee-Mason, especially considering his fascination with bees building hives. Well, maybe that's how he came to be interested in the subject.