Bees are vanishing. In 1950, there were 500,000 beekeepers in the U.S. Today there are less than 1,600. Examining the enormity of this loss, Jeremy Simmons' documentary The Last Beekeeper follows the lives of three commercial beekeepers (from South carolina, Montana, and Washington) over the course of a year as they struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder. When they take their bees to California's enormous annual almond pollination (an event so large it requires nearly all the bees in the US), it becomes painfully and poignantly clear the bind they are in. "If all the bees die, what do you have to live for?" asks one of the beekeepers. It's a question for all of us. The cause of Colony Collapse Disorder remains unknown and if honeybees continue to decline at the same rate, they will cease to exist in the U.S. by 2035. Jeremy Simmons' buzz-worthy documentary The Last Beekeeper, a World of Wonder film produced by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Emmy Award winner for "Outstanding Nature Programming" 2010.
