Honey Bee Blues

Honeybee Blues tells the story of the worlds disappearing honeybees and the efforts of Australian scientist Dr Denis Anderson to save them from annihilation.

From the native bush and orchards of Australia to the industrial farmlands of the United States and the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Honeybee Blues is a scientific detective story that tells a 21st century cautionary tale.

The European honeybee, or Apis mellifera, is used for commercial honey production and by a global pollination industry worth up to $100 billion. Without it we would lose a third of the worlds food supply.

But honeybees are under threat from all directions. Industrial agriculture and habitat destruction have taken a toll but the biggest threat is a deadly parasitic mite which Anderson discovered and called Varroa destructor. It has decimated bee populations everywhere except Australia which is now the only country that still has European honeybees living in the wild. While in Papua New Guinea, Anderson discovers another lethal mite, Varroa jacobsoni, that adds to the threat to the worlds honeybees.

Denis Anderson believes the solution to eradicating the Varroa mite lies in the genes of the honeybee. He is trying to switch off the honeybee gene that tells the Varroa mite to reproduce. If he succeeds, he could save the last of the worlds wild European honeybees from extinction.

The film features observational sequences and interviews with biosecurity officers, bee exporters, pollinators and honey producers.

Combining macro photography of the insect world, a lively blues soundtrack and animation sequences, Honeybee Blues tracks the incredible journey of the worlds oldest domesticated animal and its predators around the globe.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• honey
• bee
• blues
• european
• honeybee
• apis
• mellifera
• habitat
• destruction
• parasitic
• mite
• varroa
• destructor
• jacobsoni
• honeybees
• insect
• insects
• bio
• diversity
• nature
• beekeeper
• documentary
• science
• environment
• wildlife
• yt:stretch=16:9

[MissiLizzzzie]

I wonder if that is true that the russians spred the varroa, since they don't have so much of it themselves. Also, US is now importing russian bees exactly because they do not have varroa.

[Serruntiss]

@integraab Im guessing you are American... lol

Korea is an independent country and is no way a part of China :p

[PaulCHISful]

WHY DO WE NOT HERE OF THIS IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ?????????????????????? WHY ARE THERE NO MAJOUR FUNDS BEING RAISED AWARENESS RAISED has evil goverments written all over it i tell you when something of great importance is not shown in the maim stream media means there is evil attached to it you will here soon of a attempt at a world wide food shortage sistuation looks like the work of the same people/groups

[tatidel87]

@integraab its korea, not china

[kashmiriway]

save my honey bees ...plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[integraab]

Why everything bad comes from China?

[nassenheider]

Nowadays the Varroa-mite can be perfectly handled by evaporating formic-acid with the NASSENHEIDER EVAPORATOR! The real enemy are the pesticides sold by BAYER, BASF etc. and sprayed all over the countryside...

[moonspellNS]

:(((((((((

[tappakeggaday1]

@julzbo well it is an idea,or just one of those thoughts because of the breathing tubes the adult mites use when they go into the comb.reason why I thought wax/oil was I know at some point the bees cap the larva and if there was just enough oil between the larva and the wax then it would smother the mite.My line of thinking also was that the nurse bees would have to work at cleaning out the wax caps and by that time the mite would be dead.Yeah it is a great documentary I agree

[julzbo]

@tappakeggaday1 Unfortunately, I don't think the oil getting all over the bees and the bees ingesting it would be good for them - and it would also be in the honey. It will be very interesting to see what Denis Anderson, you or anybody else comes up with to cure this invasion. I pray it is soon. Excellent documentary.