Vanishing of the Bees

source: Vanishing of the Bees

source: Vanishing of the Bees

This is such an important topic, as you know, so much of our food system is incidentally being reproduced by the pollen being transfered from one flower to another when bees are foraging, and this movies deals with the subject of their "mysterious" disparitions. because there is no way to prove pesticides and monoculture kills them in the long time. But this movie is also very annoying in the sense that it treats the topic in the same utilitarist manner that apiculturist have : yes, it's threatening a big chunk of worldwide agriculture with their disappearances in north america and europe, but it was only notices when the ones having a business interest in exploiting bees, and the movie, while taking time to criticise some of the methods used to increase their productions, falls short in addressing the problems with bees are treated as commodities, and how unhelpful for their existence, and incidentally ours, it is that humans steal most of their food reserves.

I researched the so-called "vanishing" of bee populations worldwide, and it's all a hoax. Yes, there was a dip in bee populations in the late 90's, and to this day, that is still the same data that is used to perpetuate this lie. Every single year since then, bee populations have steadily risen worldwide. Many people tried to blame the collapse of the late 90's on Neonicotinoids, a pesticide derived from the tobacco plant. The problem with that is, bee populations in countries where these pesticides were never used also saw a decline in the 90's. Actual researchers say it was probably some kind of fungus, or parasite, that caused the collapses of that era...but again, bee populations are doing just fine since then. I saw one study that concluded the hive decline may simply been due to cold weather, you know, because it gets cold in the winter in the northern hemisphere...imagine that! Now let's imagine all the bees in the world suddenly disappeared overnight. Then we would have to use a different insect to pollenate our crops for us, or (God forbid), we would have to do it manually. The horror!

Vanishing of the Bees. 2010. In 1994, systemic pesticides were introduced in France. These are applied to crop seeds, and infuse the plant for its life. Bee colonies began collapsing in France. In 2003, systemic pesticides were introduced in the U.S. U.S. beekeepers first complained of honey bee colony collapse disorder in 2006. Bees bring the pesticide-laden pollen back to the hive; the newly-hatched bees eat this pollen. Bees become confused and susceptible to bacteria, fungi, viruses, mites that they usually can fight off. Within about a year, the colony is all dead. In France, systemic pesticides have been banned: bee populations are recovering. In the U.S., the E.P.A. (which relies on research done by the pesticide companies) is not convinced that the systemic pesticides must be banned. Honey bees continue to die by the billions in the U.S. We can help by choosing to eat organic produce; avoid pesticide-grown foods. http://www.vanishingbees.com/ For a good show about how bees survive and thrive when a colony is healthy, see Nova: Tales from the Hive: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1406058/reviews-1

In recent years documentaries including "The 11th Hour" and "An Inconvenient Truth" have been visually provocative wake-up calls about our impacts on the environment. Add "Vanishing of the Bees" to the list of very important "call to action" documentaries about our environment. Will we listen to the bees? Honeybees from just one hive can visit more than 100,000 flowers in a single day ... thus the line, "Busy as a bee!" Honeybees collect pollen full of proteins, sugars, carbs, enzymes, minerals and vitamins for food and to make honey. They also have one of the most important jobs in nature—pollination. There's no manmade alternative to pollination; without the honeybee, our food sources would be much more limited. In recent years, this dance with nature has been stressed for reasons still unclear. From Argentina, China, France and Italy to the U.S., bees literally have been disappearing without a trace (no worker bees in the colony, and no dead bees to be seen anywhere in the area) in something that has come to be known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Bees have been "managed" in the pollination process for ages—bees were even floated down the Nile to pollinate crops. But today the process is like nothing before it. Hives are transported across the country thousands of miles to pollinate apple orchards, almond groves, pumpkin patches and blueberry fields and are responsible for $15 billion in U.S. crops. The impacts of CCD have been so bad that to pollinate almond trees in California, bees were flown in on a 747 from Sydney to San Francisco in something that could only be described as unsustainable. The stories abound. One former commercial beekeeper from Yuma, Arizona, lost all of his bees in just two months, and the world's largest beekeeper (50,000 hives) lost 40,000 bee hives in just a few weeks. Documentary filmmakers Maryam Henein and George Langworthy in "Vanishing of the Bees" investigate the story of how bees began disappearing around the planet and look at possible suspects, including what are called systemic pesticides. Narrated by actress Ellen Page ("Juno" and "Inception"), the documentary follows two committed beekeepers, David Hackenburg and David Mendes. Hackenburg, who manages 3,000 hives in Pennsylvania, sounded the alarm in 2006 of huge bee losses. Mendes, a Floridian with 7,000 hives, joined Hackenburg in the search for answers to CCD, including a trip to France to meet with beekeepers. France had problems beginning in 1994 when farmers began using a systemic pesticide, Gaucho, made by Bayer. French beekeepers banded together and protested Bayer. Ultimately, the French agriculture secretary banned the use of Gaucho, and French bees appear to have had a comeback. Besides systemic pesticides, the filmmakers look at other potential culprits for the massive collapse, including corporate farming approaches which create vast monocultures that contradict natural order. Food activist and author Michael Pollan lends an important voice to "Vanishing of the Bees." He says, "In one sense, it's a mystery, but in the larger sense we know exactly what's responsible—these huge monocultures that are making bees' lives very difficult and creating conditions where they're vulnerable to disease and exposed to pesticides. My take on colony collapse is that it is one of the signs—one of the really unmistakable signs—that our food system is unsustainable." Besides building tremendous awareness of the problem, "Vanishing of the Bees" offers some practical choices that individuals can make to help save the bees. Among them are supporting organic farmers and shopping at organic farmers' markets, not using toxic chemicals in gardens and yards, growing your own gardens, replacing lawns with flowering plants and advocating for food systems that will better support bees.

I was shocked at the amount of information in this ultimate, must see video. The entire story of the amount of work that goes into the very essence of bee-keeping is fascinating! At the same time - those of us that viewed the video were not surprised at the reasons for the disappearance of the bees. When you have companies such as Monsanto creating seeds that include pesticides incorporated into them, and then you have animals and insects that are using those plants - it takes only common sense to know what eventually is going to happen. The sad part is, for the US, is that those that are in charge in our own government, have a lot of ties to the big Bio-tech industry. It's no wonder that we can't get anything accomplished to ensure our future food supply isn't in jeopardy..look at who's in charge! I hope that the following is formatted so that you can see it: NAME : MONSANTO-JOB : GOVERNMENT-JOB : ADMINISTRATION Toby Moffett : Monsanto : Consultant US Congessman : D-CT Dennis DeConcini : Monsanto Legal Counsel : US Senator : D-AZ Margaret Miller : Chemical Lab Supervisor : Dep.Dir.FDA,HFS : Bush Sr, Clinton Marcia Hale : Dir. Int'l Govt.Affairs : WhiteHouse Sr Staff : Clinton Mickey Kantor : Board Member : Sec. of Commerce : Clinton Virginia Weldon : VP, Public Policy : WH-Appt to CSA : Gore SDR, Clinton Josh King Dir. : Int'l Govt. Affairs : WHCommunications : Clinton David Beler : VP Gov't & Public Affairs : Gore's Chief Dom.Polcy Adviser : Clinton Carol Tucker-Foreman : Monsanto Lobbyist : WH-Appntd CnsmerAdv : Clinton Linda Fisher : VP Gov't & Public Affairs : Deputy Admin EPA : Clinton, Bush Lidia Watrud : Manager, New Technologies : USDA, EPA : Clinton,Bush,Obama Michael Taylor : VP, Public Policy : Dep.Commiss. FDA : Obama Hilary Clinton : Rose Law Firm, Monsanto Counsel,: US Senator,Secretary of State : D-NY Obama Roger Beachy : Dir Monsanto Danforth Ctr : Dir USDA NIFA : Obama Islam Siddiqui : Monsanto Lobbyist Ag Negotiator : Trade Rep : Obama When we can get the ties to the Bio-tech companies from putting big money into the pockets of government, then maybe we'll accomplish something. Enough said!

Ellen Paige's voice only helps the homeland feeling of farmers trying to bring love to the land which in turn brings food to all of us. The story starts with David Hackenberg an experienced American bee farmer trying to find out why all his bees are dying. From him the movie traces David's Friendly Colony of scientist and fellow farmers and tells us their stories. Vanishing was thorough and I learned a lot. What I liked most about the movie is that they take you over seas to show that the people in France etc. are fighting the same battle, and it's cool to see so many people from different backgrounds get together for one cause. This movie was very enjoyable. I didn't expect it to be exciting but I got sucked in. I would have liked to see interviews with the companies involved in this problem, and people pressing them. Some sort of deep emotion like that would have possibly earned this another star.

This is a comprehensive, educational and well-made documentary. It should be required viewing for everyone, but especially for the younger generation who will be inheriting this mess that is our current agricultural culture. Without informative media like this film, many folks will never know about the dangers of the way most of our food is grown and the consequences that will have, until it is too late. Ironically, the big corporations mentioned in this film do not know that there are more important things than money, because bees are one of them and a thriving bee population will increase profits. See this film and then vote with your fork!

Vanishing of the Bees is a thoughtful and informative look at the potential reasons behind colony collapse disorder (CCD), in contrast to so many documentaries which are alarmist and sensationalist. As an amateur beekeeper I am interested in bees, of course, but I saw this film to better educate myself on where our food comes from. After watching "Vanishing" I felt that I had gained a common-sense understanding of how a few agricultural practices in the developed world can be strongly linked to CCD. The film also left me wondering why more isn't being done to change our current practices. I think this film is a must-see for anyone interested in food, farming, or bees.