Vanishing of the Bees Narrated by Oscar Nominee Ellen Page

Honeybees, vital to sustaining our food supply, are mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally vanishing from their hives. This alarming phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), is a serious crisis for commercial beekeepers, whose operations are essential to pollinating hundreds of fruit and vegetable crops worth about $18 billion a year in the US alone.

For three years, Vanishing of the Bees investigated the honeybee crisis across the US, Europe, Australia and Asia. Through interviews with scientists and beekeeprs around the world, along with animation and stunning cinematography, the film chronicles the rise of CCD and the intensive efforts to find the cause of the disorder and preserve the honeybee population.

A central focus of the film is the plight of beekeepers David Hackenberg and Dave Mendes as they strive to keep their honeybees healthy. Hackenberg was the first to report the massive and unexplained disappearance of honeybees in the U.S. in 2006. We witness the various challenges the two face as they struggle to fulfill pollination contracts, plead their case on Capitol Hill and travel across the Pacific Ocean to meet with other beekeepers.