Loading...

Colony Collapse Disorder Comes to the Animated Screen: "A World with No Bees"

honeybee

If you’ve followed environmental news at all over the past few years, you’re familiar with the phrase “colony collapse disorder,” or the failure of honeybee colonies around the world. While the jury’s still out on the exact cause, many suspect neonicotinoid pesticides play a role in the collapse of these colonies of necessary pollinators.

What would happen if bee colonies were completely wiped out? What effect would that have on other ecosystems, plant and animal species, and, of course, human’s ability to produce food? The folks at Ample Earth, a British animated video producer for “just causes and worthy ideas” will attempt to answer these questions in its planned production “A World with No Bees.” While the video will educate Brits on the connections between neonicotinoids and colony collapse disorder, it’s also designed to inspire action. I’ll let Harry McAlister, one of the principals at Ample Earth, explain:

http://vimeo.com/64087700#

Yep, they’ve done some impressive work so far, including reaching out to famed British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough for collaboration. They need support, however, on the funding side; the video above is a part of their campaign at crowdfunding platform Start Some Good. Harry and team need to raise $50,000 (or about £10,000) to get this video made and distributed in just over three weeks. So I misunderstood how this works at Start Some Good. The minimum they need to raise is $15,000 (their “tipping point” goal); their optimal amount is $50,000. The three weeks is right, though…

Does the idea of colony collapse disorder scare you? Or, are you unsure how to answer your kids’ questions about this threat? Supporting Ample Earth’s effort here can help get the word out on this crisis, and maybe even help stop it. And they’ve got some pretty sweet swag as rewards…

If you decide to contribute, or just have thoughts on the threat posed by collapsing bee colonies, go ahead and leave a comment below…

Image credit: Danny Perez Photography via photopin cc

3 comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *