Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper was a big hit earlier this year, thanks largely to its fun worldbuilding that has prompted audiences to wonder how many Beekeepers there are in the secretive organization. The Beekeeper got solid reviews for its hugely entertaining story and interesting premise. While it was a big, violent action movie, audiences loved seeing Jason Statham as a one-man wrecking crew bulldozing his way through corrupt capitalists preying on the less fortunate.
Also intriguing for audiences was the whole concept of the Beekeepers. Assuming The Beekeeper 2 is greenlit – and it should be considering how the first one did in theaters and the ending’s sequel setup – more should be revealed about the secretive, scary organization. While there’s an element of mystique that makes the Beekeepers organization so compelling, The Beekeeper characters did reveal some basic details about the operation. Still, some viewers may not have caught those details among all the inventive carnage, including how many Beekeepers are active at one time.
Adam Clay Is A Retired Member Of The Beekeepers
It Seems He’s Been Retired For A While In The Beekeeper
When the movie begins, Adam Clay has retired from the Beekeepers and is no longer a Beekeeper. While it’s not stated exactly how long he has been retired, or how long he was active, it seems that he’s been retired for a while. At the very least, he had enough time to find a new place and set up shop with his beehives and honey business. He’s obviously been there a while, too, as he’s established a close relationship with Phylicia Rashad’s Eloise Parker. He also has hundreds of jars of honey in his barn; seeing as how he doesn’t have many hives, it would have taken a few years to get that much honey.
The fact that he simply doesn’t talk much about his past is also an indicator that it’s been a while. Granted, that’s the nature of the job, but Adam seems to be long past the point where he misses his old life as a Beekeeper. At the start of the movie, he has no desire to get back in. While he still has contacts in the business, every indication is that he’s been retired for a while and it’s only through the readiness drilled into him as a Beekeeper that he maintains contacts with the operation and keeps his skills sharp.
Anisette Is The Only Beekeeper Agent
Only One Beekeeper Is Active At A Time
Though the movie makes it clear it’s once a Beekeeper, always a Beekeeper, Adam isn’t officially a Beekeeper anymore, even after he comes out of retirement. He may still rely on his skills and his connections, but it’s all unofficial business and favors he’s called in. None of it is officially sanctioned work – clearly, seeing as how the outfit sends its current Beekeeper after him.
That Beekeeper, Anisette (Megan Le), is the only active Beekeeper in rotation. It’s explained in the movie that while the Beekeepers organization is a much larger operation than anyone knows, there is only ever one active Beekeeper at a time. Adam using Anisette’s finger to access the safehouse confirms this; everything is keyed to the current Beekeeper and he no longer has access. Using many bee analogies, the Beekeeper is the one responsible for keeping order in the “hive.” It’s never made explicitly clear what the hive is, but it can be assumed it’s the larger world, national security, society in general.
In another sense, though, while the Beekeeper is the only one in existence and their job is to support the hive and protect the “queen,” the Beekeeper themselves could be seen as the queen. The agency exists to keep order, supply the currently active Beekeeper with supplies, smooth their path, and work out logistics. That makes them the equivalent of the worker bees whose only role is to support the queen.
Anisette’s Death Means The Beekeepers Have No Agents
The Beekeepers Must Have A Contingency Plan For Exactly That Scenario
If the queen is killed, however, it throws the whole hive into chaos. With Adam killing Anisette during their battle, it means the agency is currently left without a Beekeeper. It’s not clear if this means Adam will have to come out of retirement and officially resume his duties as the Beekeeper for a second time. More likely, the outfit has someone else waiting in the wings to replace Anisette as the official new Beekeeper. With an organization that strategic and well-connected, it’s impossible that they don’t have a contingency plan in place should one of their Beekeepers be killed while out in the field. If there is a sequel to The Beekeeper, audiences will certainly find out who replaced Anisette even if they don’t find out how.