The Zen of BeeKeeping

Firebaugh, CA

This month, Ive been shooting beekeepers for a documentary I am directing with Randy and Fenton.  3 weeks into it, I  can tell you a certain pattern has emerged.  The whole thing is so repetitive and very zen..... almost hypnotic.  And yet, just beneath the surface, there is this underlying tragedy.  I have seen many a beekeeper reduced to tears when I least expected it.

 Ultimately, I think,  it's in part what will make this whole documentary so compelling.  Bees have highly predictable behavior, which allows us to use them for pollinating, making honey, etc..., and yet, the more I film, the more I realize, no one knows a damn thing about them.  A hive is dead and 3 beekeepers have 3 reasons why it happened.  Why they swarm, drift, die, grow, reproduce.... the whole thing has been managed for hundreds of years (It is the 2nd oldest profession on earth), and yet, there is still so much variability.  And now that bees are dying off in staggering numbers, it's really begun to highlight how little we actually understand.  

One beekeeper said to me after he lost over half of his hives "The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results".  Of course, he was referring to the fact that he would be managing his bees the same way next year and just crossing his fingers hoping that the bees would be ok.  But really, in this industry, the truth is that they COULD be ok next year.  It didn't seem to me to be all that bad of a strategy. Or at least, just as good as working yourself to death to address a problem that may or may not exist.

So, Im filming something that is, on the surface, so calm and serene.  Usually one or two beekeepers in an orchard working their bees in complete silence.  But underneath that picturesque scene something ugly is going on.  And I have no idea what's going to happen next...