IRONDALE, Ala. — An Irondale beekeeping business is receiving attention for their role as consultant’s on the upcoming film The Rivals of Amziah King, featuring Matthew McConaughey.
Foxhound Bee Company served as the lead beekeeping consultant, animal wrangling team, equipment supplier, and technical adviser on the film, which is set to release later this month, August, 2026.
The company supplied 34 colonies containing an estimated 1.36 million honeybees for the neo-western crime thriller, as well as coordinated a team of five professional beekeepers, logging almost 400 hours of work during the film’s production.
Foxhound founder Adam Hickman also personally trained McConaughey and native American actress Angelina LookingGlass to work with live hives.
“Working with Matthew and Angelina was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Hickman said. “But it doesn’t matter who you are — when you open a hive, the reaction is always the same. The bees are the real star. Even the stars know it.”
Approximately 12,000 bees were placed on McConaughey and 10,000 on LookingGlass, according to Foxhound. The company reported only five bee stings during the whole course of production.
According to Hickman, managing the bees meant a lot more than just bringing the colonies to the set. Factors like weather, temperature, wind, shifting production schedules, and the mood of the hive were all factors that had to be taken into consideration.
“The bees were the easy part,” Hickman said. “The hard part was the schedule — the weather changing, the shoot dates moving, and coordinating our beekeepers around all of it.”
Foxhound also supplied the crew with honey, hives, beekeeping equipment, and props fit for the film’s setting, as well as advise on realistic beekeeping practices and the behavior of hives.
One prop in particular Hickman mentioned having a personal connection with.
McConaughey’s character, Amziah King, used a bee smoker that personally belonged to Hickman’s great-grandfather. Hickman described it as the very smoker that sparked his passion for beekeeping.
“It was surreal,” Hickman said. “Working alongside McConaughey, doing what I love — and then seeing a piece of my own family history playing a lead role in it.”
Hickman began beekeeping in 2012 while living in Hoover. Two years later, he founded Foxhound Bee Company. In 2020, he left his job to run the business full-time.
A certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apiculture Society, Hickman has previously worked as a professional chef and recipe developer, where he contributed to publications like Food & Wine and Cooking Light.
Over time, Foxhound has grown into a full-fledged retail store, education center, and digital beekeeping business in Irondale.
Hickman initially began working as a consultant for The Rivals of Amziah King in 2023 after being brought in to advise on beekeeping scenes. Foxhound later coordinated with Alabama beekeepers Brian Booth of Rock Ridge Bees, Justin Mills of Eastaboga Bee Company, Tyler Walker of Choctaw Bee Company, and Yappy Bee Man on the film’s production.
The Rivals of Amziah King is directed by Andrew Patterson, and stars McConaughey alongside Kurt Russell, Cole Sprouse, Owen Teague, Tony Revolori, and LookingGlass.
