The award winning documentary, Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? is showing in Cranbrook on Wednesday April 4 and again in Kimberley on Thursday April 12.  Wildsight is hosting the screenings in response to community interest in the plight of honeybees in the East Kootenays and beyond.

Queen of the Sun follows the voices and visions of beekeepers, philosophers and scientists from around the world providing an in-depth investigation of the causes and solutions to the honeybee population collapse. The film is unique in that it emphasizes the biodynamic and organic community’s perspective and insights into the long-term issues that have brought about the recent honeybee collapse. In the end Queen of the Sun is an uplifting documentary finding practical solutions and discovering the deep link between bee’s survival and our own.

Lance Cuthill,  Cranbrook based Ministry of Agriculture Bee Inspector will introduce the Cranbrook screening of Queen of The Sun. “We have had dramatic bee losses here in BC and in the Kootenays and my hope is that as our community becomes aware of the situation with our pollinators more people will take up beekeeping,” said Cuthill.

John Bergenske, an East Kootenay commercial beekeeper for the past 35 years, will introduce the Kimberley screening.  John was president of the BC Honey Producers’ Association in the 1980’s, during a period when Canada’s beekeepers were increasingly threatened with the spread of bee pest infestations. Besides being the human face behind Rocky Mountain Honey, Bergenske is well known as Wildsight’s Executive Director.

“Honey bees are an indicator of ecosystem health across the globe and escalating bees losses in British Columbia over the past decade are symptomatic of the changing face of agriculture world-wide,”  said Bergenske.

Queen of The Sun will screen in Cranbrook on Wednesday April 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the College of the Rockies Lecture Theatre and in Kimberley on Thursday April 12 at 7 p.m. at Centre 64. Admission is by donation.  For more information contact Wildsight at 250-427-2535 or view the film trailer at www.queenofthesun.com.