These days you don’t have to be a beekeeper to have heard the bad-news buzz about bees. “Apocalypse of the Honeybees,” “Bees Vanish” … you’ve read the headlines, or if you haven’t, you can watch them flash past in the first minutes of director Taggart Siegel’s documentary Queen of the Sun. Colony collapse has become a worldwide epidemic. Or in layman’s terms, honeybees have suddenly and inexplicably vanished from their hives across the globe. Bees pollinate 40% of our food, yet in the U.S. alone we’ve lost 50 million colonies containing 50,000 to 60,000 bees each.

With scary statistics like these and insights from the scientific community, Siegel issues a wake-up call to audiences. Molecular biologists, entomologists, biodynamic beekeepers, philosophers, and more bee experts and environmental activists weigh in on the dilemma, pointing their collective finger at the culprits behind the bee-pocalypse, culprits like queen inbreeding and artificial insemination, pesticides, and — the biggest offender — monoculture farming. The film delivers some disturbing revelations like this shocker: High-fructose corn syrup, the ubiquitous sweetener found in soft drinks and processed food, is actually injected into honey bees. Why do HONEY bees need corn syrup? Apparently it’s a way to awaken and strengthen migratory colonies that have traveled miles to pollinate monoculture crops like those cultivated by many California almond growers. Siegel’s message, and its urgency, is loud and clear: Playing god with nature has its price. The need for change is also urgent, and a particular challenge for commercial beekeepers who risk bankruptcy if they alter their business model.

Siegel’s film — as every environmental documentary truly should — also touches on hopeful trends like rooftop and backyard beekeeping (a locally outlawed practice Manhattanites are petitioning to legalize). The film also outlines what concerned humans can do to help their bee brethren, from consuming pesticide-free food to growing bee-friendly gardens. (If you’ve missed anything during the documentary just look for the how-to-help list at the end.) Lovely, brushed pastel watercolor illustrations depicting the marriage flight of a queen bee, cute black-and-white bee cartoons, and other animated segments explain how hives function for those who need a crash course.

These storytelling techniques may seem like standard fare to documentary fans, but Siegel sets himself and his film apart with exquisite cinematography and awe-inducing visual artistry, like a chestnut and ochre-colored bird almost invisible among deep purple, raspberry-red-tipped flower petals. Iridescent sapphire and orange, ivory, and yellow — every bloom is a multihued, exotic beauty shot close-up in crisp detail. And everything is beautifully lit, from trees sparkling with a kaleidoscope of sunshine to glossy amber shades of honey spilling from a glass jar against a black backdrop. The sublime luminosity adds to the spiritual side of a documentary that worships the sacredness of all the bee queens of the sun — like the woman whose transcendental image opens the film. Swathed in a swarm of bees she bows and sways in a reverent dance. Queen of the Sun is as soulful as it is scientific, as uplifting as it is alarming. After watching it, you too may catch the beekeeping bug (I think I have).

Grade: B+

Tags: queen of the sun, seattle international film festival, siff