The Vanishing of the Bees

'The Vanishing of the Bees' is a loud wake-up call! The bees are our a canary-in-a-coalmine. Man pollutes the river and dies, then Man pollutes the air and chokes, now Man pollutes the soil and bees die while Man lingers, in a toxic soup. And why? Because Man is 'exceptional', God said so, and gave Man dominion over Nature. Well I wouldn't give Man dominion over a rock garden. Man needs to be deposed (along with his God) and a truly benevolent custodian restored to oversee all species as equals. Take-away: Chemical Pollution equals Damnation.

If you can grit your teeth through the pointless presence of the tuneless children, the sometimes patronising narrator's script & voice and the often repeated (uninformative) clips then you will come away with some insight into bee keeping practices in the US, the reasons behind Colony Collapse Disorder and ways of addressing it. But you may have decided to go for a beer before then.

To sum up: this was an informative but rambling and unfocussed, documentary style look at bee hive loss in the US with a glance towards France & Germany in the years 2000 - 2008.

Ok - it's not high on production values, but this is a fascinating documentary about how bees have been disappearing and offers ideas as to how we can help.

A simple movie but it does have more depth than I had expected. The characters are so easy to feel for as they try to do what is right for the planet and the eco system and when I saw what they were doing to the process in the name of commercialisation, I actually cried.

Thought provoking and shocking in the gentlest of ways

The Vanishing of the Bees examines the mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, in which beehives are being abandoned for seemingly no reason.

Pennsylvanian beekeeper David Hackenburg was the first to notice the trend in 2005.

The filmmakers interview several scientists and beekeepers (focusing mainly on the US) and eventually give various theories involving pesticides, monoculture (meaning the focus on one cash crop to the exclusion of others) and the artificial insemination of queen bees. However, the research needed to properly investigate the phenomenon is severely hampered by a lack of government funding and the film highlights the specific failings of the Environmental Protection Agency, who apparently aren't allowed to do independent studies.

The film does offer a fascinating glimpse into the US beekeeping industry, in particular the revelation that hives are actually routinely trucked across the country, so that the bees can pollinate a variety of different crops, from California to the East Coast and back again.