New doc spotlights Boogie Down Bronx Honey

I always felt that one or two beehives every three to five miles will help increase the yields of all the local community gardens.”

Sean Malik Flynn, Bronx beekeeper

Sean Malik Flynn started Boogie Down Bronx Honey after taking a beekeeping class and started with two beehives he kept inside of a spare room in his apartment, despite being allergic to bees. That was 12 years ago. Now he, and his 22-year-old daughter Alaura Flynn, are the stars of “Keeper,” a short film documentary on their life and work. 

The 39-minute film opens with Flynn checking on his Riverdale apartment beehive and the story follows him and his daughter’s journey as they keep bees and make honey. A few months into filming Flynn was diagnosed with throat cancer and Alaura Flynn found herself having to do the job alone while taking care of her father. 

“I didn’t get cancer, cancer got me, so I had to kick it in the butt and send it on its way,” Flynn said, “We’re not going to revisit that at all.”

Filmmaker, Hannah Rafkin told The Press, the impetus to create the documentary began as an assignment for her master’s thesis at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. 

“It’s been a really wild ride and we have matching tattoos now. . . so we’re bonded for life,” Rafkin said. 

The trio shares a bee tattoo, located on their left forearm they chose together after the making of the film.

Earlier this year, the documentary won an international student film competition and was awarded the Gold Student Academy by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the same organization that hosts the Oscars. 

“Keeper” is also being considered for best short documentary by AMPAS.

On the evening of Dec. 7 the Bronx Documentary Center hosted a packed Bronx borough premiere of the film with Flynn, his daughter and the director present to discuss the telling of the story. 

How the documentary was filmed, presented and perceived was important to Rafkin, Flynn and Alaura Flynn. 

Alaura Flynn said her story shows “someone finally coming into themselves.”

Taking care of her father, graduating college, starting her own dog-walking business and keeping the beekeeping business alive taught her how to push herself and find what she was capable of. 

“It really made me realize that I can do whatever I put my mind to and that’s what I want people to take away from it,” Alaura Flynn said. 

Flynn said he wants people to be reminded of the positives of the Bronx. Growing up near Yankee Stadium, then moving to Riverdale he said being part of the Bronx and showing the film in the Bronx is a big deal for him. 

He said the goal of Boogie Down Bronx Honey is twofold. First, Flynn wants to tackle the Bronx’s food desert. 

“I always felt that one or two beehives every three to five miles will help increase the yields of all the local community gardens,” Flynn said. 

For Flynn, setting up beehives in close proximity to community gardens meant the bees would assist in pollination, and ultimately produce more fresh local produce for the garden and those eating from it. 

His second mission with his honey business is to teach the community however he can. 

“They have the power and the knowledge to actually help support their families and their communities by beekeeping,” Flynn said. 

Flynn takes his goal of teaching the community seriously, and Anthony Bautiste can speak to that. Bautiste has been operating as an apprentice under Flynn for the last year. He said it started after Flynn began maintaining beehives on the Tree Army lot, located at 190 W. 234 St. where Bautiste works. Now Bautiste attends the Riverdale Y Sunday Market to sell honey on behalf of the company. 

“The first thing he tried to help me with is the difference between the queen bee and the rest of the bees,” Bautiste said. 

Part of Flynn’s ideology on keeping beehives close to local produce, rests in the idea that a world without bees would cease to be.  

Bees have long been on the brink of extinction, with problems arising like the bee crisis of 2009 when entire bee colonies started mysteriously disappearing in a phenomenon marked as colony collapse disorder. 

The Bee Conservancy, a nonprofit formed in 2009 as a direct response to the bee crisis, states bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of the food humans consume. Bees pollinate most of the planet’s fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts and without them growth of almonds, apples, onion, blueberries, cucumbers and carrots would be down 90%, according to The Bee Conservancy. 

Bautiste added local honey can help with issues regarding allergies. 

“You take the honey that’s in season if you have allergies and the local honey because that’s where you’re at, that's where you live,” Bautiste said. 

Research by the National Institute of Health found evidence of civilizations using honey as medicine as far back as 8,000 years ago. Honey contains antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and has been proven to activate immune responses during infection. 

After the screening at the Bronx Documentary Center, Flynn hopes to continue touring his film and dreams of showing at the Andrew Freedman Home, at 1125 Grand Concourse across the street from his childhood home. 

“Everything great comes out of the Bronx. The Bronx has touched the world and will continue to do so,” Flynn said.