Vanishing of The Bees

The Petaluma Film Series has some extraordinary films scheduled for the next three Sundays in February.  The films are shown at the Aqus Cafe Foundry Wharf, 189 H Street, Petaluma, CA.  Admission is free, but a $4 donationis appreciated to defray costs. Beverages and snacks are available; please arrive early.  For more information or to see a full schedule of films, visit www.petalumafilmseries.com or call Peter deKramer at 707 765 8888. 

Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives. Known as Colony Collapse Disorder, this phenomenon has brought beekeepers to crisis in an industry responsible for producing apples, broccoli, watermelon, onions, cherries and a hundred otherfruits and vegetables. Commercial honeybee operations pollinate crops that make up one out of every three bites of food on our tables.

Vanishing of the Bees follows commercial beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their bees healthy and fulfill pollination contracts across the U.S. The film explores the struggles they face as the two friends plead their case on Capital Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean in the quest to protect their honeybees.

Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia and Asia, this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds about the relationship between mankind and mother earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alternative reasons for this tragic loss. Conflicting options abound and after years of research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery.

90 min, 2010

Presented by Daily Acts