Director: Christoph Wuerzburger Producer: Suedwestrundfunk Fernsehen
Description:
For
years bees have been dying. All over the world, silently and
unobtrusively. Sometimes individual hives are empty—from one day to
the next. Sometimes thousands of colonies are wiped out at the same
time. In recent years the mortality rate of bee colonies in Europe
has averaged 20%, in Germany even 30%-50% or more, says beekeeper
Christoph Koch from Oppenau in the Black Forest. Losses as high as
this are worrying. Beekeepers are sounding the alarm. “What would
happen if every year a substantial number of our cows were to be
found dead in their sheds?” Christoph Koch asks. He trained at the
Institute for Apiculture at the University of Hohenheim where he
completed his diploma. The problems with the bees have been on his
mind for some time. Koch is a member of the board of the German
Professional Beekeepers Association. But there are people who
question whether bee mortality really exists. After all, the honey
bee is not capable of surviving without the care of the beekeepers in
Germany. Has beekeeping itself a negative impact? What part do
industrial farming and agricultural chemicals play? The mysterious
death of the bees occupies scores of scientists at the bee institutes
and in the pesticide firms. Using old-fashioned radar technology the
professor is looking into modern insecticides. Their impact is subtle
and almost indiscernible. But beekeepers say that it is disastrous.
The toxins are everywhere. They are a bestseller for firms producing
agricultural chemicals—a worldwide market worth billions. But is
the solution to the mysterious death of the bees as simple as all
that? Are pesticides the only cause, as beekeepers claim?
Biography:
Christoph
Wuerzburger studied geography, meteorology, oceanography and
journalism in Mainz and Kiel. His postgraduate studies were in
journalism at Tübingen. He is married with four children. Since
1993, he has been active as an author and filmmaker. He does
freelance work for Suedwestrundfunk Mainz (SWR), WDR Cologne and also
for film production companies. Christoph is trained as a video
journalist at SWR. Alongside the work for documentary programs,
realization of more than 500 magazine reports and series for SWR.
