HONEYLANDS AND BEE FEVER
Nestled within the old, quirky lanes of Hastings Old Town, sits our local independent cinema; the ELECTRIC PALACE. It's one of my favourite places to BEE. Right before lockdown my 86 year old friend John the beekeeper and I emailed Rebecca who runs the cinema and asked if we could hire the space to show the poignant, award winning documentary: HONEYLAND. By chance it turns out that she had in fact already booked the film into the program for the month.
After checking our Bee Potion website, products and educational work, she asked if I would prepare a small talk after the film preview, all about Bee Potion and my work as an independent beekeeper. It then turned out that Rebecca had also made her own beautiful film about a beekeeper that lived in Hastings. She sent me a link and spent a lazy Sunday afternoon watching it.
I was amazed - The film itself was all about a local Hastings artist, teacher and beekeeper: Angie Biltcliffe, an incredible woman who had sadly died of cancer a few years previous. It was partly due to her death that I became a beekeeper. This was either sheer coincidence, or pure faith..without further ado, here is Rebecca's film about Angie:
What I personally love about this film is how Angie embraces life and death and her own mortality through that of her bees and their short life/death cycle put into perspective from their 50 million years on this earth. When Rebecca sent me this she truly had no idea of my personal story and connection to Angie. It was a beautiful connection that was meant to be.
Unfortunately to due the extremely unfortunate state of 2020 and the film was postponed. Then in August, as soon as the Cinema reopened with the showing of HONEYLAND - I was back on to running the Q&A.
Watch my little talk below - The Q&As were thought provoking.
I started off the evening at the Electric Palace cinema by offering viewers a little taste of my precious, limited edition honey from my Fairlight wellbeing site and a separate yield from my garden apiary in St.Leondards. I loved watching peoples reaction when they taste honey for the first time, as there is an incredible difference between the two. you are really able to taste the wilderness in the woodland batch...it opens your senses and allows you to imagine the dense foliage covered environment.
Onto the main event - I personally think that HONEYLAND is one of the most profound social documentaries ever made. Please, please do try and watch it as you will learn so much about bees, our role in the ecology and the fight for survival.
The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
Although I do not endorse Amazon in any shape of form - Here is an online link if you wish to stream this film:
Click Here to rent the Honeyland film.
If you are interested in a good bee read then below I have photographed a selection of my bee books. The Bee's by Laline Paull (written by a local author who was surprisingly enough also inspired by Angie Bilcliffe) personifies the bees, with a central protagonist, Flora the worker bee.
The book I will be reading this autumn is one that was recommended through a Shaman (who used to be an airline pilot). Zohar Bahir, another wonderful local lady that has supported our BEE CAUSE. I feel this book will truly deepen my respect for bees and how I work with them for my own and others wellbeing - I will let you know how it goes.
BEE WELL THIS AUTUMN.
The bees will quietly spirally their queen, keeping her and themselves warm.