Review. Vanishing of the Bees

Bees are vanishing and no one is sure why. In America one third of hives have been lost in the last 2 years and that is approximately 2 million colonies.

At this rate soon there will be no Bees left in the United States. But it is not just confined to the United States. This is happening all over the world.

The phenomena is the subject of a new film, given a special showing at FACT last night, “The Vanishing of the Bees” - an American documentary on a limited cinema release.

Why should we be worried about the Bees vanishing? Well most of our food comes from plants pollinated by Bees, from apples to peaches, from carrots to sunflowers. So most of the fruit and vegetables would disappear off the shelves to be replaced by pasta and rice. Not much variety.

Losses have been blamed on Colony Collapse Disorder, CCD, scientists and beekeepers are not sure why it is happening. Is it the chemicals used in pesticides? Is transporting the Bees from Florida to California to pollinate the orange groves? Is it mono-crops? Are the Bees getting fed up just pollinating one variety when bees are meant to pollinate a multitude of flowers?

While the Bees are being transported over vast distances bees are fed sugar water and this is also a cause for concern. This is all before the mites that attack hives are taken into account.

Bayer Chemicals come in for some very strong criticism, some of their pesticides are held responsible for this problem. The United States Environmental Protection Agency approves pesticides on Data supplied by the manufacturer, that cannot be right, pesticides must be asserted by an independent agency. The reason is cost; the EPA states that it does not have the money to access the suitability of pesticides.

As a film “The Vanishing of the Bees” is far too long and buzzes all over the place, at times it is hard to follow.

As a documentary it is not sure weather to go after the Drug Companies or to blame the practises of the commercial beekeepers.

“Silent Witness” actress Emilia Fox narrates it as if she is speaking to four year olds, I realise that David Attenborough cannot narrate everything and Emilia probably volunteered her services, but her voice becomes grating. As does the plonky music, it would have been better to have not used any music, just the buzzing of the Bees and have finished in silence.

Some of the scientists interviewed were less than dynamic, but I did like the comments of Prof Michael Pollon (what a name for a Bee researcher!)

Too many people got involved in the making of this film and it shows. It needs serious editing to get a very important message over to the public before it is too late. Needless to say Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are doing very little, apart from the French who have banned the chemicals until more research has been done. I like the French.

The Co-op is heavily involved in this project and there is one heavy message from the sponsor, but that is not a bad thing if it leads to other supermarkets selling produce that has not been grown using chemical pesticides.

It is not as bad in this country according to local Beekeepers, we do not transport our bees over great distances, and a day out to Wales is about all our local Bees can expect.

Colony losses in this country amount to about 20%, which are twice the normal losses. Pure Honey is the only foodstuff that does not go off.

You may not be worried, you may not eat fruit or vegetables, but if the Bees go so does your cup of coffee and your cup of tea, now that is something to worry about.

4/10

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