A Dedicated Studio Captures the Astonishing Ecology of Bees

Bees, the foundation of lush landscapes and abundant life. They have nurtured life on Earth for five million years, three million years before humans even existed, by carrying pollen from plants. It is said that one-third of the vegetables and fruits we humans consume owe their existence to the pollination by bees. However, in the last 15 years or so, a concerning reality has emerged worldwide, with phenomena such as mass bee deaths and disappearances, raising alarms about the environment surrounding bees.

More Than Honey, a documentary that delves into the mystery of disappearing bees while brilliantly capturing their astonishing ecology, has arrived. Director Markus Imhoof, who grew up in a family of beekeepers, travels to Switzerland, the United States, China, and Australia to shed light on the reality faced by bees. Furthermore, to meticulously document bee behavior, he set up a dedicated studio. Within the pitch-dark beehive, he created a world of golden bees, capturing moments like the birth of a queen bee and the waggle dance, revealing scenes inside the hive rarely seen by the human eye.

Traveling the Globe to Meticulously Investigate the Reality Faced by Bees

Director Markus Imhoof embarks on a journey to uncover the reasons behind the disappearance of bees worldwide. His travels begin with beekeepers in the mountainous regions of Switzerland and expand across the globe. In the United States, he documents the long-distance transportation of bees across the country for pollination purposes, and in Austria, he meets a family that raises queen bees for export worldwide.

In China, where bees were eradicated during the Cultural Revolution, he captures scenes of flowers being pollinated by human hands. In Arizona, USA, he encounters beekeepers who work with the notoriously aggressive Africanized bees.

The journey continues to Australia, where the family of Imhoof's daughter researches bees. Here, the mass deaths of bees have not yet begun. They are releasing artificially bred bees on an isolated island in the Pacific. Could this island become a Noah's Ark for bees?—?

The physicist Albert Einstein once said, "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years left to live." Director Imhoof, who traveled the world meticulously investigating the plight of bees, reveals the reality that human activities threaten not only bees but also the diverse life on Earth, and ultimately, our own existence.

More Than Honey
Opening May 31 (Saturday) at Iwanami Hall and other theaters nationwide
Director | Markus Imhoof
Starring | Fred Jaggi, John Miller, Prof. Randolph Menzel
Distribution | SIGLO
2012 | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | 91 min
http://www.cine.co.jp/mitsubachi_daichi/

© 2012 zero one film / allegro film / Thelma Film & Ormenis Film