Before the cameras,
there were the bees.

For UnDaoDu — the monk, Michael J. Trout — giant hornets were part of a beekeeper’s reality. Keeping Japanese honeybees brought him into contact with the hornets that could threaten his colonies. The question was personal: how could he better understand the hornets and protect the bees?

A beekeeper’s experience becomes a story

That experience helped shape his participation in Killer Hornets from Hell, produced by Hoff Productions for Animal Planet. Filmed in 2014 and released on 20 May 2015, the special introduced international audiences to giant hornets and the people working around them in Japan.

Contemporary newspaper coverage describes the monk’s Japanese beekeeping, his experience of hornet attacks on colonies and his work designing a hive to better protect the bees. His path into documentary filmmaking grew from that hands-on concern.

More than a decade later

The work continued through further giant-hornet productions in Japan and, most recently, hornet consultancy for Secrets of the Bees. Along the way, the monk developed long-standing filming relationships in rural Ehime and repeated experience working with Susumu Tokunaga.

Planning your own film?

Bring the monk your brief — the behaviour, the setting and the sequence you want to capture. His experience connects the animals, the location and the practical needs of a documentary crew.