Thinking outside the hive. Woman stages epic maternity shoot with 20,000 live honeybees

Real talk: art direction of the standard maternity photo shoot has taken a cynical seat on a clichéd chair in our collective consciousness, right alongside the wedding photo shoot and prom photo shoot. But we celebrate expectant parents and beaming couples, trite or not, for capturing important milestones because we love our friends, are happy for them and it's the right thing to do, dammit. Still, the relentless barrage of shoots coming at us in our social media feeds has made it too easy to picture precisely what poses will be captured for each milestone. If you say "maternity shoot", I hear "husband or young kids kissing belly bump in staged adorable fashion", not "the harried buzz of 20,000 bees as they swarm the abdomen of an expectant mother". By gum, that changes today.

In stupendously unorthodox fashion, Emily Mueller of Akron, Ohio just broke the wheel on the baby bump reveal photo, by adding tens of thousands of bees. Surprisingly, she did keep one hallmark of the photography genre: the serene smile of the matriarch contemplating her role as life giver. Whatever your take on the apiary aesthetic, Mueller gets points for smiling calmly while buried beneath thousands of potentially sting-crazy insects. Should you be looking to differentiate yourself from the reproductive rabble and ace a boss photo, do take notes. Also, I openly hope that something will happen to make that baby be born with bee powers.  

With 20,000 honeybees (an approximation, there was too much going on to actually count them) swarming her baby bump, Mueller posed for photographer Karen Damis as she snapped numerous sun-dappled pics outdoors.  Mueller looked perfectly placid in a white, off-the-shoulder peasant dress. Again, absolutely covered in bees.  

Before scheduling your own bee belly photoshoot, consider that Mueller was already a staunch ally of the bee community. Her company, Mueller Honey Bee, offers non-lethal honey bee removal services that leave both hives and bees intact. She operates it with her husband, Ryan. Strong tip of the beekeeper's hat to both.  

Mueller told Cleveland.com that bees, more than just a business perk or novel idea, are actually deeply symbolic for her.  "We've had three miscarriages, so these pictures are dedicated to life and death, to all of the children we've had," she shared. "Bees represent life and death." They also make honey with their bodies. Anyone not already on team bee needs to evaluate their priorities. Extreme allergy sufferers excluded, of course.

If you're intent on taking your maternity photo shoot inspiration from Mueller, here's a pro-tip: a well fed bee can't sting because it's too sluggish and too full to bend it's little body. Uhm, adorable. Note also that Mueller kept the Queen Bee at hand in a cage - wherever her majesty goes, all loyal subjects follow. The result is a baby bump bumble bee swarm.

I could drone on (don't fight it), but here's one more amazing B-related mom-to-be maternity photo shoot we thought was worth mentioning...

The Queen Bey

The original twins Beyoncé shoot, incredible in its own right in that it almost broke the internet.

Peep the whole series by Awol Erizku here.

Jessi Cruickshank

As a bonus baby bump shoot, we can't leave out our own Jessi Cruickshank, who you may know is also expecting twins. She recently gave us this epicly fun Beyoncé send up:

She also gave us her take on baby bump fashion and asked all the questions you were too afraid to about childbirth.

Still, Mueller stands alone for the maternity shoot with the most small, winged, honey producing creatures in one pic. Bar officially raised.