Cinema - Vanishing of the Bees (Cert. U) 

Dir: George Langworthy

USA 2009 1hr 37mins
English/French/German with English subtitles
Emilia Fox

Imagine half a million adults leaving town and leaving their children behind. Picture an opened suitcase filled with bundles of cash at a bus stop and yet nobody wants to snatch it. The mystery known as Colony Collapse Disorder displays these very symptoms. Not only do the bees abandon their hive; but the queen and the brood as well. Even the predators that usually raid the hive for honey stay far away. At first, this sounds like an urban legend or an exaggerated tale - it is not. The situation is both dire and all too real. Bees are disappearing all over the planet and no one knows why.

Over winter, the beekeepers put away their hives and anxiously wait. Will their honeybees once again disappear without a trace? If so, what impact will this have on our lives? Vanishing of the Bees unfolds as a dramatic tale of science and mystery, illuminating this extraordinary crisis and its greater meaning about the relationship between humankind and our planet.

 **ON SALE FROM JANUARY 4TH 2010**