I recently had the pleasure of watching More Than Honey – a film by Markus Imhoof. If I had only one word to describe this documentary about honeybees, it would be “Beautiful”. (Luckily for you, I have many more words than just that.)
The movie opens with one of the most amazing scenes ever caught on film: a close-up of a Queen honeybee emerging from her cell. In fact, the cinematography and stunning imagery never end throughout this film and I found myself constantly wondering, “How on Earth did they manage to get that shot?”
I have great respect for Imhoof, and his ability to portray not only these amazing creatures but also the problems affecting honeybees in a way that allows the viewer to decide for him/herself that there must be a better way to treat the honeybee than what we’re currently doing.
The movie highlights the harsh contrast between a beekeeper in the Swiss Alps – who is shown relaxing on the mountainside in a field of wildflowers – to a money-hungry, American commercial beekeeper trucking thousands of colonies of bees around the United States every year. The whole while, Imhoof tells the story of the honeybee and the common diseases and pests that affect this amazing insect.
More than Honey makes you think strongly about what life would be like without the honeybee. Is man able to pollinate as well as a honeybee, by hand or machine? Could we, as humans, pollinate plants the way that honeybees do? How much of our food would be impacted if they disappeared? As the title of the film implies, there is certainly more to the honeybee than just honey.
I won’t reveal too much about this movie, but I will reiterate that the photography throughout this movie will absolutely blow you away. Even if you keep bees as a hobby or a living, you have never seen inside the hive like this! I have included the trailer at the bottom of this post, so prepare your eyeballs.
While this movie is not yet available in Canada or USA, this would be an amazing film to show at a local film festival or to screen at a small independent theatre near you. Thank you Markus Imhoof, for making a film that will definitely open the eyes and hearts of people worldwide.
Gourmet Yogurt and Honey
I have two people to thank for this recipe: my good friend Brendan – who first introduced me to the concept of gourmet yogurt, and my wife, Heather – who makes this for me every single morning.
Here’s the recipe for the yogurt depicted above, but the beauty of this is that you can use whatever ingredients you have available to you. We usually have a bag of frozen berries in our freezer and then thaw a cup of them in the fridge every week.
- A couple of huge spoonfuls of Greek yogurt
- 1 heaping spoonful of berries (thawed from frozen or fresh in the summer)
- A half-dozen almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered probiotics
- A huge pinch of ground flax seed
- A hefty slice of honeycomb
You can, of course, use liquid honey as well, but I’ve recently been using the whole honeycomb. The wax is fine to eat and you get the benefits of pure, raw honey, untouched by air, moisture, machines, or heat. I mix up all the ingredients thoroughly and enjoy them as a side dish at breakfast.
Early Spring Checkup
The weather this past weekend was beautiful and I decided to check my hive. The temperature was supposedly around 10 degrees Celsius, but it felt a bit cooler than that. To play it safe, we did not open the hive more than just the outer (AKA telescoping) cover.
The good news is that as of March 30, 2022, I still have bees! (Although I don’t want to speak too soon.) I won’t yet consider this a successful “overwinter” until there is lots of forage available and I’ve seen the next generation of workers born and working.
The bees are still clustered at the top of the hive, and those that are making cleansing flights are doing so from the ventilation that I added in the fall, instead of the lower entrance. I guess that’s OK. I’m willing to bet they’ll return to the proper entrance once things pick up in a few weeks.
