Ciné-ONU, Brussels, 7th June: "The Vanishing of the Bees"

The United Nations in partnership with the Goethe Institute invites you to the screening of 

"Vanishing of the Bees"

On Tuesday, 7 June at 6:30 pm

Imagine half a million adults skipping their houses and leaving their children behind. Picture an opened suitcase filled with bundles of cash at a bus stop and yet no robber wants to snatch it. The apiary science 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. Unnatural. Unheard of. Even the predators that usually raid the hive for honey stay away. At first, this occurence sounds like an urban legend or an exaggerated tale. Except it's not. Bees are disappearing all over the planet and no one knows why. 

Since this nearly year-long investigation first began, thousands of beekeepers around the globe have come out of the bee yard, and admitted to the same problem, with some reporting losses of more than 90 percent of their colonies. And there are no dead bees to be found. It is estimated that CCD has resulted in the death of more than one quarter of the 2.4 million bee colonies in at least 35 states across the U.S.

The film looks at the CCD from the viewpoint of the beekeeper, as well as from the perspective of hard science, while keeping in mind the mythical spirit of the honeybee. 

The film will be followed by a Q&A with

Mr. Dennis Van Engelsdorp, Penn State University (Pennsylvania), expert on the decline of bees

Mr. Philippe Lecompte, organic professional beekeeper, President of the Bees Biodiversity Network

Mr. Pascal Peduzzi, UNEP, expert on the decline of bees and contributor to the latest UNEP report on bees

The event will be moderated by Arni Snaevarr, UNRIC