Wine Openers

If you eat, you should see “Queen of the Sun.”
The story of the crisis killing American honey bees isn’t new to most of us. But the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, where worker bees simply disappear in mass numbers from their hives, has no clear or generally acceptable explanation.
According to Wikipedia, such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture. The term colony collapse disorder was first applied in 2006 when a drastic rise in disappearances was seen in Western honey bee colonies in North America.
Similar disappearances have been noted in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, Switzerland and Germany. Recently Ireland reported some hives suffering 50-percent losses.
Theories ranges from mites and insect diseases to climate change, malnutrition, pesticides, genetically modified crops and even cell-phone radiation (I didn’t even know they made cell phones that small).
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion each year in added crop value and nearly one mouthful in three in your diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination.
In an area such as this that still has strong agricultural ties – economically and socially –it’s important to learn what’s happening to our honey bees.
The movie “Queen of the Sun” takes a interesting and eye-opening look at the bee crisis. Director Taggart Siegel, who searched the world for passionate beekeepers, takes as inspiration a quote from Albert Einstein, who said, “If bees disappear from the Earth, then man will have only four years to live.”
In the movie, Siegel juxtaposes the disappearance of bees with the mysterious world of the beehive, weaving a story around beekeepers, scientists and philosophers.
A release from the movie says Queen of the Sun “reveals both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.”
“Queen of the Sun” is being shown this week at the Paradise Theater in Paonia. Showings are set for 6:30 p.m. tonight and Thursday, 8:15 Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Some area beekeepers will be hosting a Q&A session after Sunday’s movie.
(Special thanks to Jim Brett of the Western Slope Chapter of Slow Food for this notice.)

Forget for now the Broncos, this weekend the porkers take over Denver.
Lovers of heritage-breed pigs are sure to enjoy Cochon 555, a unique culinary competition Sunday in Denver featuring five pigs, five chefs and five winemakers.
The event will be at the Ritz-Carlton in Denver, 1881 Curtis St. The VIP program begins at 3:30 p.m, general admission is at 5.
The chefs, who include the fabulous Kelly Liken of Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail (she, you remember, was the featured headliner who wowed the crowd at the 2010 Colorado Mountain Winefest), will be challenged to use the entire pig – head to tail, the squeal is optional – while the heritage-type winemakers will be pairing their small-production wines.
Other participating Front Range chefs include 2008 James Beard Foundation Award winner Laughlin Mackinnon of Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder; Alex Seidel of Fruition; Frank Bonanno of Luca D’Italia; and Jennifer Jasinski of Euclid Hall & Rioja.
Winemakers will include Domaine Serene; The Scholium Project; Elk Cove Vineyards; Failla Wines; and Chase Family Cellars.
Whew, what a lineup.
The premise behind Cochon 555, which makes similar appearances in cities across the nation, is to “promote sustainable farming of heritage pig brands,” according to PR whiz Lori Lefevre.
It’s not surprising that pork farming, like all industrialized farming practices from apples to zucchinis, has taken the “easy road” to mass production, breeding pigs that grow big quickly in what are euphemistically called “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFOs), which translates to factory farms (even to docking the pigs’ tail because cramped pigs will eat the tails off their pen-pals).
That mass-production means losing the flavor and appeal of heritage-breed pork in favor of lower production costs.
However desirable they may be, heritage pork breeds are not suited for today’s intensive farming techniques, says the website LocalHarvest.org, and some of the older breeds are in danger of being lost.
But there’s hope that events such as Cochon 555 (“cochon” is French for pig but I’m sure you already knew that) will remind pork lovers of the delights of eating real pork.
The winning chef (attendees pick their favorite) will compete in the Grand Cochon at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June.
General admission tickets start at $125 per person, VIP tix are $175 and include special wine tasting along with artisan cheeses, caviar and oysters.
Information at www.cochon555.com.