Human action is causing pollinator declines all over the world, with disastrous results to human food chain and biodiversity of our ecosystems. “Colonies in Conflict” is a feature length documentary that examines, for the first time, the state of wild bees in a fast-developing Indian landscape.
It is a first-person account from the filmmaker’s own backyard yet holds up the mirror to the story of insects everywhere. In trying to save bee colonies in her community from being decimated Rajani Mani inadvertently stumbles into the world of wild bees.
Migratory wild honeybee species Apis dorsata (Rockbees) – native to south Asia – have been filmed extensively over various landscapes to find out how big a negative impact people have had on insect populations.
Honeybees are a keystone species that props up the ecological arc on which the survival of several species, including humans, depend. Wild honeybee hives are a common sight in India. Decades ago, these beehives were seen on large trees, but as cities expanded and trees were cleared to make way for high rise apartments, the wild bees adapted. Today it is common to see beehives on the balconies of high-rise apartments in India.
Human action is causing pollinator declines all over the world, with disastrous results to human food chain and biodiversity of our ecosystems. “Colonies in Conflict” is a feature length documentary that examines, for the first time, the state of wild bees in a fast-developing Indian landscape.
It is a first-person account from the filmmaker’s own backyard yet holds up the mirror to the story of insects everywhere. In trying to save bee colonies in her community from being decimated Rajani Mani inadvertently stumbles into the world of wild bees.
Migratory wild honeybee species Apis dorsata (Rockbees) – native to south Asia – have been filmed extensively over various landscapes to find out how big a negative impact people have had on insect populations.
Honeybees are a keystone species that props up the ecological arc on which the survival of several species, including humans, depend. Wild honeybee hives are a common sight in India. Decades ago, these beehives were seen on large trees, but as cities expanded and trees were cleared to make way for high rise apartments, the wild bees adapted. Today it is common to see beehives on the balconies of high-rise apartments in India.
Alarmed by reports warning about an insect apocalypse, filmmaker Rajani Mani is concerned about the way honeybee hives are often sprayed with pesticides exterminating the entire colony. And thus begins her journey of exploration – learning about wild bees in India and what is killing them. The film asks the critical question, if in the future these wild bees disappear entirely what would it mean to the farmer, the forest, and to the future generations of humans?
Colonies in Conflict” has been filmed over two years, in the backdrop of the pandemic. It is the first film in the world that has captured closely Apis dorsata (Rockbees). The film follows the bees through its various migratory landscapes – the city, the field, and the forest. The film conveys that the world needs to sit up and take notice of the vanishing biodiversity of the global south – forest fires, melting icebergs, rising temperatures are the result of insatiable human greed. Tropical ecosystems like India share an impressive 8.1% of global species diversity – hosting nearly 53,430 species of insects, 45,000 species of plants and twice as many animals.
The pandemic has taught us that we don’t know how global ecosystems respond to the changes we are seeing around us. The film’s compelling message is that in our uncertain future we need to hedge our bets and keep as many pollinators in the game as possible, because we don’t know when a certain element of biodiversity can come to our rescue.