Bee People (2012)

Directed by David Knappe

Starring Gregg McMahan

Not Rated

Playing at the Grandin Film Festival in Roanoke, Va.

Visit the Official Website for more information.
And here's a trailer.

"Bee People" is the story of an alien invasion. It involves a race of creatures that closely resemble bees but can disguise themselves as people.

Okay, so maybe that was a Doctor Who episode.

The alien angle would have been entertaining, but probably have taken away from the documentary aspect of the film.


In reality, "Bee People" is the confession of love by some very enthusiastic bee keepers. The star of the film (other than the bees), is Gregg "The Bee Guru" McMahan. As an aside, everyone who owns a bee hive (not the hairdo) has a nickname: Bee Guru, Bee Medic, Tony "Bees" Planakis, The Bee Mistress, Johnny Bee Good, The Beeliever, Beedazzled, Beeatrice. I might have made up a few of those.

The Bee Guru and his sidekick Mr. Bill are rescuers and enthusiasts from Colorado. There have been numerous documentaries and news stories about the decline of the honey bee. What "Bee People" offers is a solution. Instead of promoting large corporate bee farms they encourage average citizens to become backyard beekeepers. The idea is that a backyard hive on every block will do more good for the environment than one large centralized farm. The maintenance is actually lower than you'd expect. Every couple of weeks you show up and make sure there's still a buzz and that's about it. There's the added benefit of honey collection which is not only delicious but actually pretty nutritional.

There's a fair number of interludes in the film that feature our bee lovers quizzing average citizens about honey bees. It's boring. I just don't care if that guy walking out of Ben & Jerry's knows the average lifespan of a bee. I think I would have rather seen the trivia simply pop up as a graphic between scenes.

Making up for those lulls are the scenes featuring bees. The Bee Guru, Bee Medic and Mr. Bill tackle a neighborhood barn that's inhabited by a feral swarm. There aim is to rescue as many bees as possible with a custom made shop-vac and relocate them to a man-made hive. Oddly enough, the owner of the barn had recently bought a hive for her backyard before finding out she had one all along.

The footage of the bee rescue is breathtaking. After a few boards are removed we're treated to a monstrous honey-dripping hive with over 40,000 bees. Most of those bees get vaccummed up into an aerated box and nearly 50 lbs. of honey is packaged up. Some of the comb is broken off gently to be placed in the man-made hive so the bees feel right at home.

When the rescue is complete the plans change. Instead of making a new hive for these bees they decide to "marry" them to an already existing hive. First, the new bees are covered in powdered sugar. And I do mean covered. The sugar is pressed in through a screen on the box and then shook up until the bees are solid white. Then the top is taken off and the box is placed on top of the hive. Without the sugar the bees would prefer to fight to the death. Instead, the desire to eat overcomes the defensive reaction and they start to accept each other, mostly. With or without sugar, when marrying bees it's best to be wearing a protective suit. It's never a consensual marriage.

This isn't the only bee involvement. We also meet a NYC cop who rescues bees and visit a natural hive built directly into stone in the Red Rock area of Nevada. Most bizarrely, the boys head down to install a hive behind a local bakery at the request of the owner. Seems natural since the baker can use honey in his goods, but not as natural considering the deadly bee allergy that baker possesses. I'm guessing he has epi-pens hidden everywhere.

One thing I didn't like about the film was the comedy. The Bee Guru and Mr. Bill try to pull off a Laurel & Hardy act but it seems forced. At times it feels like they're auditioning for a cheap reality show. I have no idea how the guys are off-camera, this may be the natural relationship, but it sure seemed like they were hamming it up. This isn't a major issue, but I think the message and the footage were good enough on their own.

"Bee People" is a refreshing documentary. Ninety-nine percent of documentaries present the viewer with a global crisis. Almost none of them offer a solution. "Bee People" is among the one percent that show people a simple way to make the world a better place.