About — Synopsis

SYNOPSIS

Sister Bee is a lyrical documentary about six beekeepers who find beauty and wonderment in their work with honeybees. Beekeeping is more than a hobby for the beekeepers of Sister Bee. It’s a source of laughter, learning and connecting with the natural world.

Sister Bee follows the arc of the beekeeping year beginning with spring queens and ending with the fall honey harvest.  The beekeepers approach their hives.  One lights a smoker.  Another lifts a cover from a hive revealing the wax city below.  A third laughs as she hoists a six-year-old boy to peer inside her tallest hive. “There she is! There she is!” says another when she finds the queen. Each beekeeper’s outlook is revealed through thoughts and gestures. Expressive sound effects and a score of vocal music, antique whistling songs and acoustic guitar unify Sister Bee into a celebration of honeybees, beekeepers and the changing seasons.  Mortality, sisterhood and the palpable sense of connectedness some beekeepers experience while working with honeybees are addressed.

PRODUCTION NOTES

Running Time:  29 minutes 50 seconds
Shooting Format:  Mini-DV and 16mm
Completed:  July 2006
Country:  United States
Language:  English

TRAILER

THANK YOU

Sister Bee was funded by grants from the Boulder County Arts Alliance and the Boulder Arts Commission.