Queen of the Sun – What are the Bees Telling us?
A film and book review - by Sam Burcher The Queen of the Sun documentary film is a slow-paced and beautifully shot travelogue of the best and the worst habitats for bees survival. The best habitats are the seamless tracts of wildflower meadows and the sanctuary gardens specifically created for bees that provide food all year round. The worst habitats are the endless rows of monocultures that provide food for only three weeks of the year during flowering season. On this soulful journey we meet the biodynamic, organic, urban garden and rooftop beekeepers intent on pulling the honey bee back from the brink of disaster. We see the wonder of the snow white wax that brings the light of the bee and the sun in the winter. We watch the patient beekeepers with their hives reflecting on what was, until 2006 and the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) 10,000 years of productive co-operation between humans and bees.