Documentary 'Queen of the Sun' explores not-so-secret death of bees
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"Queen of the Sun" explains colony collapse disorder, in which bees disappear from their hives.
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Paging Al Gore. Honeybee colony collapse is a much more pressing matter than climate change, one of the experts in "Queen of the Sun" suggests.
Without bees, the planet would have no honey, no beeswax and, most importantly, no pollination of 40 percent of our food, including some fruits, vegetables and nuts such as almonds.
"Queen of the Sun" interviews experts from around the world about colony collapse disorder in which bees disappear from their hives. Roughly 5 million colonies -- with anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 honeybees each -- have been lost just in the United States.
- Rating: PG in nature due to subject matter and some subtitles.
Documentary director Taggart Siegel provides mesmerizing images of bees at work (no play) and a handful of explanations about the collapse, none comforting. Among them: The scourge of pesticides, insecticides and genetically manipulated seed and crops, the importing of bees carrying unfamiliar viruses and even the artificial insemination of queens.
"Pesticides have on bees the same effects that nerve gas has on humans. The poisoned bees cannot find their way back to the beehive and they die," says Carlo Petrini, an Italian who founded the international Slow Food movement.
Watching a beekeeper brush his mustache against docile bees as he insists, "And they like, they like" or witnessing a woman essentially wearing a cowl-necked top of bees is freaky, especially for anyone who's had an allergic reaction to a sting.
But honeybee colony collapse is no joke or ecological myth. It could be the canary in the coal mine that precedes the death of bumblebees, butterflies, other insects and birds.
At 83 minutes, "Queen of the Sun" seems padded, especially once the documentary detours into beekeeping in the Bronx and elsewhere in New York City.
However, the close-up photography is spectacular as bees alight on daisies or red poppies and flit through fields of lavender, and honey glistens like liquid gold. Sit through the credits and you will find updates and some practical advice on how to save the honeybees and maybe, ourselves.
Plays Saturday through Wednesday at Pittsburgh Filmmakers' Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave. in Oakland.
First Published May 19, 2011 12:00 am
