This film is a story of the age-old tradition of beekeepers and honey bee survival against old and new enemies. About one-third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by managed honey bees, including apples, melons, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, broccoli, and almonds, not to mention clover and grass for cattle. And the honey bees make lots of pure honey – so there’s that.
Honey is created from the nectar bees get from flowers. Bees bring nectar to their hive where the nectar’s sugar becomes concentrated through water evaporation and enzymatic actions. Honey will not spoil if kept properly and can last forever. “Royal Jelly” is secreted from the glands of worker bees and only eaten by queen bee larvae. It is also thought by some to have healthy medicinal qualities for humans. What has beekeepers and the industry alarmed is the unexplained deaths of hundreds of millions of bees in 2024-25. Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025. Is it the Varroa destructor mite, viruses, insecticides, or something else? Bee research facilities including the Auburn University Bee Center are looking in to the causes.
We meet entrepreneur and Master Beekeeper Adam Hickman and Foxhound Bee Company owner in Birmingham, Alabama. Adam is a distributor of queen bees and also provides beekeeping supplies and information about beekeeping. The company recently expanded and created a large public space in Irondale, Alabama designed to educate and encourage beekeepers and those who aspire to be beekeepers. We explore Alabama’s backcountry fields and prairies with conservationist and social media influencer Kyle Lybarger in search of ancient native flowers and grasses that feed the pollinators and thrive in undisturbed land.
We spend time with farmer-beekeeper Mike Keller of Southern Sweet Bee in Hope Hull, Alabama. Keller previously worked for M.C. Berry in Montgomery, Alabama, once one of the largest beekeepers and queen bee distributors in North America. Mike and fellow Master Beekeeper Richard Woodham demonstrate the grafting of queen bees for inserting into a hive. Queens and her brood are fed Royal Jelly, a “super-charged” bee concoction that can transform a worker bee into a longer-living queen. We observe hive honey extraction as beekeepers subdue bees with whiffs of smoke and gently raid honey combs. The honey is brought to a comb centrifuge where it will be spun and extracted. The pure honey is then filtered and readied for distribution. Keller also utilizes the bees wax to make candles.
We venture to Tuskegee University in Normal, Alabama and examine the honey bee research done in the late 1800- early 1900s by university founder Booker T. Washington, his wife Bernice Washington and Professor George Washington Carver. We speak with Associate Professor and director of Auburn Bee Center Geoffrey Williams to discuss bee health and the future of bee management. Managed bee hives are especially susceptible to viruses and foreign parasites which can spread quickly within a hive.
We consider the role of the Alabama Department of Agriculture in apiary management, regulation and crop production. We visit with the Alabama Farmers Federation, the largest farm organization in Alabama. We trek the two-lanes and dirt roads to visit with local beekeepers, young and old farmers, university researchers, agricultural and medical experts and the honey loving people of Alabama. The honey bee is intrinsic to the rural landscape and its people.
Honey is created from the nectar bees get from flowers. Bees bring nectar to their hive where the nectar’s sugar becomes concentrated through water evaporation and enzymatic actions. Honey will not spoil if kept properly and can last forever. “Royal Jelly” is secreted from the glands of worker bees and only eaten by queen bee larvae. It is also thought by some to have healthy medicinal qualities for humans. What has beekeepers and the industry alarmed is the unexplained deaths of hundreds of millions of bees in 2024-25. Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% in 2025. Is it the Varroa destructor mite, viruses, insecticides, or something else? Bee research facilities including the Auburn University Bee Center are looking in to the causes.
We meet entrepreneur and Master Beekeeper Adam Hickman and Foxhound Bee Company owner in Birmingham, Alabama. Adam is a distributor of queen bees and also provides beekeeping supplies and information about beekeeping. The company recently expanded and created a large public space in Irondale, Alabama designed to educate and encourage beekeepers and those who aspire to be beekeepers. We explore Alabama’s backcountry fields and prairies with conservationist and social media influencer Kyle Lybarger in search of ancient native flowers and grasses that feed the pollinators and thrive in undisturbed land.
We spend time with farmer-beekeeper Mike Keller of Southern Sweet Bee in Hope Hull, Alabama. Keller previously worked for M.C. Berry in Montgomery, Alabama, once one of the largest beekeepers and queen bee distributors in North America. Mike and fellow Master Beekeeper Richard Woodham demonstrate the grafting of queen bees for inserting into a hive. Queens and her brood are fed Royal Jelly, a “super-charged” bee concoction that can transform a worker bee into a longer-living queen. We observe hive honey extraction as beekeepers subdue bees with whiffs of smoke and gently raid honey combs. The honey is brought to a comb centrifuge where it will be spun and extracted. The pure honey is then filtered and readied for distribution. Keller also utilizes the bees wax to make candles.
We venture to Tuskegee University in Normal, Alabama and examine the honey bee research done in the late 1800- early 1900s by university founder Booker T. Washington, his wife Bernice Washington and Professor George Washington Carver. We speak with Associate Professor and director of Auburn Bee Center Geoffrey Williams to discuss bee health and the future of bee management. Managed bee hives are especially susceptible to viruses and foreign parasites which can spread quickly within a hive.
We consider the role of the Alabama Department of Agriculture in apiary management, regulation and crop production. We visit with the Alabama Farmers Federation, the largest farm organization in Alabama. We trek the two-lanes and dirt roads to visit with local beekeepers, young and old farmers, university researchers, agricultural and medical experts and the honey loving people of Alabama. The honey bee is intrinsic to the rural landscape and its people.
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