The Struggle for Bee Survival in Argentine Patagonia

Federico Rost is a small-scale beekeeper and seeks to pass on the legacy of wild honey production to Pablo Schneider, his young apprentice, in an increasingly difficult economic and environmental context. “I wonder if we will be able to fix it —he says while sipping mate—. I wonder if we here in the village… Being so few. If we will be able to endure, I mean, if we will manage to take care of them.” Rost lives with his partner Rocío and seven dogs in Colonia Santa Teresa, a village of 550 people in Argentine Patagonia. His conditional thoughts taste bitter, like the drink. In the background, the murmur of the pampero wind can be heard, making the eucalyptus trees on the boulevard roar and lifting dry soil from the arid streets in the Patagonian winter.