Naming a Bee Epidemic
To learn more and to purchase “The Beekeeper” visit: thebeekeepernyc.com
From the filmmakers:
At the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Lab in Beltsville, Maryland, Research Leader Jeff Pettis coined the term, “Colony Collapse Disorder,” in 2006 to describe the abrupt die-offs of bee hives experienced by beekeepers in the United States. Today, Pettis thinks that a more descriptive name for the affliction is “Colony Collapse Syndrome.” Although Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) still affects bee stock across the country, the syndrome accounts for only about 30 percent of total bee losses each year. A 2013 USDA and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report listed multiple factors playing a role in honey bee colony declines, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure. One positive effect of CCD, Pettis says, is that the publicity it generated has made the public more aware of the importance of bees to food production while igniting new interest in beekeeping.
About Harvest interview with Executive Producer of “The Beekeeper”, Susan Sfarra:
AH: Please tell us about the documentary project, “The Beekeeper”
SS:Honey bees have always been a part of New York City life. Beehives dotted roofs of hospitals, orphanages, and tenements until beekeeping gradually fell out of fashion as cities became less agricultural and more cosmopolitan. Then in 1999, beekeeping in New York City was banned outright. But the harrowing reports of colony collapse disorder in 2007 created an international focus on honey bees, with concerned citizens all over the world rushing to aid the ailing bee. New Yorkers fought to have the ban lifted in 2010, and since then there has been an explosion of interest in beekeeping in New York City. The Beekeeper is a documentary that takes place on rooftops and bee yards across the boroughs to follow a beekeeping season in New York City shortly after the ban was overturned.
AH:What brought you to want to make this documentary?
SS:Several films already have explored well the large-scale issues around bee health as it relates to commercial beekeeping. The average person now knows how important bees are to our pollination needs, and they also know that bee health is not as strong as it should be. Yet, there hasn’t been a film that looks at beekeeping in our communities. Urban environments are often good for bees in that there is a wide variety of food sources and typically little pesticide use. If our own communities are healthy environments, bees in our communities should be thriving. In following a season of beekeeping in New York City, we are able to observe a relationship between humans and honey bees, and between humans and humans. Looking at these everyday interactions explores what’s plaguing honey bees from a different angle. If we’re not considering the bees and putting our own interests first, whether it’s on a small or a large scale, there are going to be problems for bees.
AH: What have you found to be the primary challenges folks just getting into bee keeping face?
SS:It is relatively easy to get started keeping bees. With just a couple hundred dollars of equipment and a package of honey bees, you can become a beekeeper. However, it’s not something you can learn online or during a weekend course. Many beekeepers I have talked to who have been keeping bees for many years tell me that they are constantly learning. It seems the longer you keep bees the more you realize there is to learn. Each season is different; each hive is different; there are so many issues that affect bees. But the work is over and over again described as calming and enriching. It’s not about how many bottles of honey you produce. The rewards come from interacting with that social network inside a beehive.
AH:What exactly is CCD and what is the most interesting thing you’ve learned about it so far?
SS:Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, occurs when the worker bee population needed to sustain the hive suddenly disappears. It’s interesting to note that the phenomenon of “disappearing disease” in honey bee colonies is not new. It’s existed for well over a hundred years, though occurrences were always limited. Over the past several decades numbers of honey bee colonies have been steadily declining as a result of a whole host of factors. The appearance of CCD a few years ago created even more sharp declines in honey bee losses and added to an already serious problem. We’ve altered our environment in plenty of ways that have made life more difficult for pollinators. However, honey bee losses have been decreasing over the past few years, and hopefully that trend will continue.
AH:What comes next for The Beekeeper documentary?
SS:The Beekeeper is newly available on digital platforms like iTunes. Whereas honey bees live in communities in which the group is more important than the individual, this is not always the case with humans. I hope audiences watch the film and agree we need to act in ways that positively affect our communities. We need to consider each other more. And, most of all, we need to consider the bees.