Thirty per cent of what we eat is dependent on pollination. The death of the honeybee would thus have far-reaching consequences for humankind. Beekeepers and scientists are puzzled: is the mysterious illness (or virus) that is wiping out entire bee colonies, known as colony collapse disorder, caused by humans? And if so, can we still do something to stop it?

 

Filmmaker Markus Imhoof begins his quest close to home. His grandfather ran a preserved fruit business and was dependent on honeybees. Even in the unspoilt Swiss Alps, however, beekeepers lose large numbers of bees after the winter. In California, he meets a ‘migratory beekeeper’ who travels the country from plantation to plantation, from spring to spring with two trucks loaded with hives. The American admits he is motivated by profit. ‘We’re capitalists,’ he says laughing. Pesticides are necessary, even though he knows they kill the bees.

 

More than Honey provides an insight into the economy that has been created around the honeybee. In Austria, we see how two cigar-smoking women breed queens for beekeepers around the world. Pollination is stunningly portrayed. The camera follows the bees up close, on four different continents and deep inside their complex social structure, both inside and outside the hive.

 

PLEASE NOTE: This film is subtitled in Dutch.