THE ART OF BEEING - CALIFORNIA #3

Terry of UrbanBeeSF interviewed by British artist Louis Masai as he traveled across the USA in Autumn 2016 to begin his attempt to tackle species extinction through art. It is one of the most ambitious mural projects of its kind to date, with 20 murals coming to 12 cities in just two months, reflecting the fast escalating extinction crisis. In the third in a series of short films documenting his tour 'The Art of Beeing', film crew Tee Byford and Emil Walker join Masai in California to unearth the truth about man's relationship with nature in the US, what's holding society back from acting for nature and if, indeed, it's possible to stop the extinction crisis. Navigating their way across the states the London based team capture reaction to Masai's work and investigate what is required on a social scale to truly make an impact. With dozens of species becoming extinct every day, many scientists believe up to 50% of species are heading towards extinction by 2050. With nearly one in four mammals under threat in the United States, The Art of Beeing highlights local species at risk and the urgent need to act on climate change and environmental degradation. Filmed at a time of great political consequence, each film explores if and how individuals are coming together, much like bees, to put nature first. But, the big question is: can they really discover the true 'Art of Beeing'? Join us at artofbeeing.org

 

 

JOHN MUIR / THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA / THE BEE PASTURES

JOHN MUIR / THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA / THE BEE PASTURES

WHEN California was wild, it was one sweet bee-garden throughout its entire length, north and south, and all the way across from the snowy Sierra to the ocean.

Wherever a bee might fly within the bounds of this virgin wilderness--through the redwood forests, along the banks of the rivers, along the bluffs and headlands fronting the sea, over valley and plain, park and grove, and deep, leafy glen, or far up the piny slopes of the mountains--throughout every belt and section of climate up to the timber line, bee-flowers bloomed in lavish abundance. Here they grew more or less apart in special sheets and patches of no great size, there in broad, flowing folds hundreds of miles in length--zones of polleny forests, zones of flowery chaparral, stream tangles of rubus and wild rose, sheets of golden compositæ, beds of violets, beds of mint, beds of bryanthus and clover, and so on, certain species blooming somewhere all the year round.....

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TERRY OXFORD: SAN FRANCISCO ROOFTOP BEEKEEPER

Terry Oxford is a San Francisco-based beekeeper/advocate who has bees on the roofs of some of San Francisco's finest restaurants. Terry uses no pesticides, miticides, plastics or sugar in any of her hives, keeping them completely natural year round. In this short documentary by David Lawrence, she explains the unique challenges, techniques and tools she's mastered over the years to keep her bees thriving on rooftops in the city. This film was screened at the 2014 Slow Food Conference Terra Madre in Torino, Italy and in Rome at the Roman Urban Beekeepers Congress.