MINSK Bees
Since May 2026, DAS MINSK’s bees have been enriching the space with a lively and highly organized community, making visible how closely cultural, social, and ecological processes are connected.
With the establishment of the bee colony, culinary culture, community, and ecological responsibility are brought into a shared context. At the same time, a connection is drawn to the building's history as a former terrace restaurant, and beekeeping is foregrounded as a form of knowledge, care, and local practice.
Bees are among the most important pollinators worldwide. A large part of the plants that sustain humans and animals depends on their work. They safeguard biodiversity, stabilize ecosystems, and make a considerable contribution to agricultural production. At the same time, bees are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment—to monoculture, pesticides, climate change, or the loss of natural habitats. Their condition tells us about the state of our environment, about the relationship between humans and nature, and about the responsibility that comes with this relationship.
The life of a bee colony is shaped by cooperation, communication, and collective organization. Within the hive, each bee takes on specific tasks and thereby contributes to the survival of the entire colony. They coordinate their life together through dances, pheromones, and complex social processes. They build, care, collect, protect, and orient themselves collectively. Their togetherness is based on mutual dependence and adaptability. The diverse entanglements between bees and humans remind us that human life is always part of broader ecological contexts.
This is why bees have fascinated not only the natural sciences for centuries, but also philosophy, politics, and art. Time and again, bee colonies have been read as models of social order, or as symbols of collectivity or democracy. The work of bees also produces one of the most culturally significant foods: honey. It is humanity’s oldest sweetener—a food and remedy, an everyday item and a luxury good, a symbol of prosperity and happiness, and considered by many cultures to be the food of the gods.
The project is implemented in collaboration with the beekeeper Richard Kowitz from Drachenberg Imkerei in Potsdam. From fall 2026, visitors can sample and purchase DAS MINSK’s honey at the Cafébar HEDWIG.
