ABOUT THE FILM

This film will document the stories of three groups of women located in Hawaii, Portugal, and the Yucatan as they work to conserve wild honeybees. The film will showcase their individual journeys, scientific research, and the spiritual connection they share with the bees across cultures. Through taking a unique scientific approach that allows space for relationship, these women have been able to gather valuable holistic insight into how bees really live (and thrive) in the wild. In a time where honeybees are still dying at alarming rates, this critical information on how to support their health is deeply valuable. 

Our first collaborator is Alison Yahna who is located on the Big Island, Hawaii. Alison comes from an academic background as a biology teacher, and has been rescuing and studying feral/wild honeybee colonies in the Ka’u region for over 20 years. While in the past wild bees were prevalent in this paradise, today they are few and far between due to a wave of pathogens that became introduced to the island in 2010, coinciding with widespread pesticide usage as well as high density factory farmed commercial honeybees. When the small hive beetle began to ravage both the wild and commercial bee populations on Hawaii in 2010, Alison’s response was to listen to her bees and forgo the poisons and treatments the other beekeepers were using. Instead she adopted a darwinian approach and by 2013 had lost most of her colonies to disease. However, over time the survivors repopulated and she now has a thriving apiary of resilient bees that have no need for chemical treatments. For now her sanctuary is isolated from the poisons and commercial beekeeping practices that are plaguing wild bees on the rest of the island, however this position is precarious as pressure to develop the land is constantly increasing. This conflict invites us to explore the importance of needing to preserve wild spaces in an ever-developing landscape. 

In the Alentejo valley of Portugal, we spent a month filming several members of the BeeWisdom Network; a research team of women (Annelieke Van der Sluijs, Sandira Belia, Ulrike Krampel, et al) exploring the nature of feral/wild honeybees. We arrived in Spring, a time generally of abundance where the bees thrive, however this season was met with an early drought and very high temperatures. This region is currently going through a process of desertification, mostly due to monoculture farming practices (particularly cork oak + eucalyptus) and land degradation. Yet even amongst these challenges, the general perspective of the BeeWisdom team is that of limitless joy and curiosity. We follow them as they observe how the bees are adapting to this changing landscape, experiment with alternative bee-friendly hive styles fashioned from cork, work to restore the landscape, and explore unique ways to be in relationship with their bees. We also explore a sub-theme of illness and the healing journey that is possible through close contact with honeybees. 

For our last location we hope to film with the Mayan Melipona Bee Sanctuary in the Yucatan, Mexico. This woman-run non-profit organization is working to protect our only native honeybee to North America, the Melipona, through restoring the ancient relationship this species has with the Mayan people. The Melipona is a stingless bee, and as such is completely reliant on human protection from predators. Because these bees produce much less honey than their European sisters, they have fallen out of favor and are now endangered. The Melipona has always been of deep spiritual significance to the Mayan people, as can be seen through their worship of the bee god Ah Muzen Cab. Historically Melipona keepers were actually male shamans, but interestingly it is groups of women that have stepped forward now to work towards their conservation. Initially when the European Honeybee was introduced to Mexico, their high-level productivity caused the plants to thrive and both bee species coexisted successfully. However, due to increased deforestation creating lack of habitat, the Melipona are now struggling to compete and survive. We hope to document the stories of several groups of indigenous Mayan women who are in collaboration with this organization.