Honey bees are messengers of love. The Honey bee hive is a super-organism, living in harmony with 50,000 other bees in a single hive. They are the pollinators for some 70% of the world’s food, transforming the essence of plant life into honey and other healing and nutrient rich products. Man has lived peaceably with honeybees for thousands of years until recently, when scientists began studying and trying to solve the crisis identified as Colony Collapse Disorder. Over half of all the honeybees on the planet have died in the last few years. Albert Einstein predicted that the death of the honey bees will predate our own demise by only 4 years. This collapse is our own. The Queen of the Sun, a film by Taggart Siegel that demonstrates how the loss of the honey bee is the most critical environmental issue of our time. Listen to this interview and see the movie, and I guarantee you will never see honey the same way again. Honey bees permeate life with love.
For 25 years, Taggart Siegel has produced and directed Emmy-nominated, award-winning documentaries and dramas that reflect cultural diversity with absorbing style. From spiritual elders struggling to preserve traditions in alien environments to marginalized youth surviving hostile streets, the subjects of his films present vital perspectives rarely seen on mainstream media.
He is best known as the director of the 2006 grass-roots hit THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN. This critically acclaimed feature documentary about a maverick visionary farmer, won 31 international film festivals awards and was released theatrically around the world. Siegel is also known for his award-winning films THE SPLIT HORN: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America, BETWEEN TWO WORLDS and BLUE COLLAR AND BUDDHA which capture the struggle of refugees in America. He is the co-founder of Collective Eye, Inc., a non-profit media production and distribution organization based in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco.
Broadcasted and distributed worldwide, Siegel’s films bring compelling voices and visions to a global audience. The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Siegel’s critically acclaimed documentary about a maverick visionary farmer, won 31 international film festivals awards and was released theatrically around the world. It was broadcast worldwide and was aired in 2007 on INDEPENDENT LENS. The Real Dirt on Farmer John was written up by Roger Ebert for it’s U.S. theatrical release as “A loving, moving, inspiring, quirky documentary” and by former Vice-President Al Gore as “Unbelievably special…a real and gripping story with insight and humor.”
Jacqueline Freeman is a biodynamic farmer and keeper of bees. She teaches people how to steward honeybees in a respectful way, always with loving kindness. Many bees who live on the farm including one hive in a standing hollow tree and another who lives inside the north wall of their home. She is published in the Queen of the Sun book, Biodynamics magazine, Lilipoh magazine and a few others, and is writing a book and multi-media presentation on the spiritual life of the honeybees (June 2012). She is a featured presenter in March 2012 at the Organic Beekeeping Conference in Arizona. She speaks bee.
