''Vanishing of the Bees'' is a 2009

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

by Hive Mentality Films & Hipfuel Films, directed by George Langworthy and Maryam Henein and released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

in October 2009. The story is centered on the sudden disappearance of

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

s from beehives around the world, caused by the poorly understood phenomenon known as

colony collapse disorder Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving behind a queen, plenty of food, and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees. While s ...

or CCD. Although the film does not draw any firm scientific conclusions as to the precise cause or causes of CCD, it does suggest a link between neonicotinoid pesticides and CCD. The UK cinema release of the film was supported by

The Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-operative Group has over ...

Cast

* David Hackenberg as himself *

Michael Pollan Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...

as himself *Simon Buxton as himself *

Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' ( ...

as narrator (UK release) *

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award nomination, two BAFTA Awards and Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Satellite Award. Page publi ...

as narrator (US release)

Reception

The film was first released in the UK with a British narration by

and received mixed reviews from critics, achieving a rating of 62 percent on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. ''Filmstar'' called ''Vanishing of the Bees'' "The most important documentary film since ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...

''. And Stuart McGurk of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' wrote that while the "subject is serious", and this film was "well intentioned and urgent", it was "let down by hammy narration, nda made-for-TV budget". Philip French of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' called it a "serious, didactic, rather rambling documentary

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

features some good, decent people". He added that "The blame falls principally on pesticides (which began when chemical warfare techniques were switched to farming), monoculture (ie, the widespread specialisation in single crops), genetic engineering and the world's changing landscape. Governments, the film charges, are listening more closely to the producers of chemicals than to beekeepers." The film was then re-released in the US with a new edit and narration by

. The film went on to win best documentary from the

Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema The Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (IIFC) is an independent film festival held since 2009 in Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California, Idyllwild, California. The festival is run by its founder, director Stephen Savage. The tenth annual IIFC wa ...

and the Cosmic Cine Film Festival.

References

External links

* *
Review of ''Vanishing of the Bees'' at Empireonline.com
Retrieved 22 July 2010
Review of ''Vanishing of the Bees'' at www.guardian.co.uk
Retrieved 22 July 2010 {{Pollination management 2009 in the environment British documentary films Documentary films about bees Documentary films about environmental issues Pesticides in the United Kingdom Bee ecology 2000s English-language films 2000s British films