In the new movie The Rivals of Amziah King, which opened in theaters last week, Matthew McConaughey plays the titular role of a beekeeper fighting against threats to his honey business. Big-name actors are often surrounded by a supporting cast. But in this case, McConaughey shares the screen with some tiny co-stars.
In fact, more than a million bees were used throughout the filming. And the bees’ success in the spotlight came thanks to thorough training from some Alabama beekeepers.
Though the movie takes place in Oklahoma, the film was shot in Alabama. Filmmakers reached out to Foxhound Bee Company in Irondale for advice on working with bees.
“The director Andrew Patterson did not want any of the cast to wear bee suits at all,” said Adam Hickman, Foxhound’s founder and lead beekeeper. “No gloves, no suits, no jackets, no veils, nothing.”
Although the crew would wear bee suits, the actors would have no protective clothing. The filmmakers had another big request.
“They wanted a promise that the bees are not going to sting,” Hickman said. “I was just like, ‘I cannot promise you that they aren't going to sting.' If I were having a golden retriever on set, I'd probably have a different answer."
Bee boot camp
Hickman said working with more than a million bees without any of the usual safety equipment required professional guidance. So he organized a team of local beekeepers to train the cast and crew before production began. The beekeepers built an apiary with 34 colonies of bees for the movie set.
”Before we even had our first day of shooting, the camera guys, production team, they all came out to our bee yard and we suited up,” Hickman said. “The director was basically helping them understand how to shoot bees. How do bees respond when you open a hive and then also how do bees respond when you’ve been in the hive too long. There's the yin and yang of opening a hive.”
Unlike a wasp or a hornet, Hickman said, honeybees don’t want to sting. That’s because they’ll die immediately. Bees will only sting when they feel threatened. With that in mind, the beekeepers taught the cast and crew how to interact calmly and confidently with the bees.
“The expectation is when you open a hive, it will act like a Looney Tunes cartoon,” Hickman said. “The cloud of bees will just shoot out of it and they'll chase you down the street. But in reality, when you open a hive, they're very calm. They notice you, but you can work in a way where you're not interfering with them.”
After two weeks of training, the cast and crew felt comfortable working with the bees. And the bees went about their business.
For the most part.
”At the very, very end, we got done with training,” Hickman said. “We took off our veils and we stepped maybe 30 yards away and one bee, just one bee would not leave us alone and ended up stinging Matthew on his hairline. And it ended up swelling up half his face. And this is a day before we were gonna start shooting.”
The producers pushed the bee-heavy shoots to the end of filming to reduce the chance of more stings. But if any of the beekeeping training failed, there was a plan.
“Apparently my hands and arms looked like McConaughey's, so they had a backup costume for me with his jewelry and his ring and his shirt,” Hickman said. “If everything went south, I was supposed to be like the hands guy.”
In the end, McConaughey performed each scene without a hitch. When the movie wrapped, there were only five bee stings through the entire production thanks to the preparation, training and advice from Hickman and his team.
Tricks of the beekeeping trade
One tactic the beekeepers used to manipulate the hives was to only have nurse bees.
“[It] is a very, very young bee that is only responsible for feeding the larva in the hive and taking care of the queen,” Hickman said. “So they are unlikely to sting.”
These nurse bees were also Italian honeybees. They’re the most common bee in the U.S. and known for their gentle demeanor.
The beekeepers kept a close eye on the weather because bees respond to changes in barometric pressure. Much like humans, changes in the weather can make bees irritable. Hickman said shoots were rescheduled if storms were in the forecast.
Another trick is using a smoker.
“When you open the hive, naturally they're gonna set off alarm pheromones,” Hickman said. “And if you put smoke in the air it makes it harder for them to communicate with each other.”
The bees think their house is on fire, Hickman said. They gorge themselves on honey, basically packing their bags to leave. The actors put smoke on their hands to prevent bee stings.
One of the most impressive tricks happens in the last scene of the movie with actress Angelina LookingGlass: a “beekeeping beard.”
The beekeepers put the queen bee in a tiny plastic cage hidden on LookingGlass. They also sprayed her with bee pheromones. Soon, the colony smelled the queen’s pheromones and swarmed around her.
The result? LookingGlass covered in 10,000 bees from head to toe.
While the human actors may have received top billing in The Rivals of Amziah King, the bees certainly stole the show.
