US service firms grow at fastest pace since August

WASHINGTON — U.S. service firms grew more quickly last month as production, hiring and new orders increased, adding to signs that the economy is accelerating after dipping at the start of the year.

The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its service-sector index rose to 56.3 in May, the best reading since August 2013. The figure is an improvement from the 55.2 posted in April. Any figure above 50 indicates expansion.

The report points to solid growth after a brutal winter caused the economy to shrink 1 percent during the January-March quarter. The gains in new orders and the backlog of existing orders suggest a faster rate of hiring in the months ahead as businesses rush to meet the demand.

"With this level of activity and new orders in the pipeline, employment is going to have to come up," said Anthony Nieves, chairman of the ISM's services survey committee. "There is no way that companies will be able to sustain a good level of output if they don't have the bodies to do it."

The services survey covers businesses that employ 90 percent of the workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services firms. The ISM is a trade group of purchasing managers.

New orders rose for the fifth consecutive month, up 2.3 points to 60.5 and the highest reading since January 2011. The production component also climbed to 62.1, its strongest level since December 2010. Of the 18 industries surveyed in the report, only the mining sector contracted last month.

Several other economic reports indicate that the economy is gaining momentum. The ISM's separate survey of manufacturers on Monday rose to 55.4 in May. Both production and orders notched solid gains.

Auto sales improved in May as well. On Tuesday, Chrysler, General Motors, Nissan and Toyota all reported double-digit sales gains year-over-year. Ford's sales rose a better-than-expected 3 percent, while Hyundai's were up 4 percent.

The government issues its May jobs report on Friday. Employers added 288,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent. Economists expect 220,000 jobs were created in May, according to a FactSet survey.

But payroll processer ADP said Wednesday that private employers pulled back on hiring in May, adding just 179,000 jobs.

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Uninspiring economic reports send stocks lower

NEW YORK — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street as traders found little to like in the latest batch of reports on the U.S. economy.

Handbag and luxury accessory maker Coach slumped 3 percent in early trading. TripAdvisor also fell 1.6 percent.

Protective Life Corp. jumped 18 percent on news that the company would be bought by the Japanese insurer Dai-ichi Life Insurance for $5.7 billion.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell three points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,921 in early trading Wednesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 31 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,689. The Nasdaq composite fell five points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,229.

In economic news, payroll company ADP reported a pullback in hiring at private companies, and the U.S. trade deficit jumped to a two-year high.

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San Francisco transit 'sickout' in 3rd day

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco's famed cable cars remained idle on Wednesday morning on the third day of a worker sickout, but light-rail trains and buses returned to their regular routes as service improved.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was operating at about 70 percent of its normal service, up from 50 percent a day earlier and 33 percent on Monday, spokesman Paul Rose said.

Rose said cable cars could also resume service in the afternoon.

"The fact that we have more vehicles on the street than the last two days leaves us cautiously optimistic," he said.

Workers and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency are at odds over a new contract. Workers overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal on Friday that union officials said would have resulted in a pay cut.

The drivers' union president, Eric Williams, said Tuesday that the labor group has nothing to do with the sick calls and urged those who called out to be prepared to have a doctor's note.

The agency known as Muni runs buses, light rail and street cars in addition to the cable cars and serves about 700,000 passengers each day. Its operators, represented by Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, rejected the contract by a 1,198-42 vote Friday, according to totals on the union's website.

Williams declined to comment on operators calling in sick because he said the union had no role in sanctioning the move. He sent a letter to union members Tuesday urging them to only use sick leave for "legitimate purposes."

The workers are not allowed to go on strike, but they can call in sick.

Transit officials said those who reported being sick must confirm they were ill to get sick pay and could be subject to discipline up to being fired.

Williams told union members "to resume and continue the excellent service we give the public" and that while having a doctor's note is not normal practice, the agency has emphasized it because of the callouts.

Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement that he joins riders throughout the city in their frustration at the drivers who have "irresponsibly abandoned their jobs and intentionally disrupted" service.

"This cannot continue," Lee said. "I say to our drivers, 'People count on you to do your job so they can get to theirs.'"

The contract that Muni workers rejected would have given them a raise of more than 11 percent over two years. However, it also would have required them to cover a 7.5 percent pension payment currently paid by the transit agency, said Rose, the agency spokesman.

The contract would have increased operator pay to $32 an hour, making them the second highest paid transit workers in the country, Rose said.

Williams said other city workers were getting a better pension deal than Muni drivers.

"Our members are hard-working, and all we want is fairness," Williams said.

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Associated Press writer Channing Joseph contributed to this report.

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House GOP conflicted on health law alternative

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are united as ever in their election-year opposition to "Obamacare," but they're increasingly divided over their promise to vote this year on an alternative to it.

The disagreement comes amid a shifting political calculus around President Barack Obama's health care law. Millions are enrolled for medical insurance through the law's exchanges, and an all-out repeal has become less practical and popular. Some Democrats have begun promoting the measure in campaign commercials, and some Republicans are treading more carefully in belittling the program.

At a recent closed-door House Republican caucus meeting, several conservatives pressed GOP leaders over the pledge Majority Leader Eric Cantor made in January that House Republicans would rally around an alternative to "Obamacare" and pass it this year.

"We said at the retreat in January we were going to do this. Well it's June and we still haven't done it," Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., said he told Cantor during the meeting last week. "It's moving at a snail's pace. ... We want to be for something."

Roe said he got little reply beyond polite attention. Cantor's spokesman, Doug Heye, said, "Majority Leader Cantor continues to work towards bold legislative solutions to replace 'Obamacare.'"

Behind the scenes, lawmakers and aides say, powerful committee chairmen with jurisdiction over the issue have been unable to agree over how to proceed. Some have even begun to suggest publicly that this year is not the time to vote on an alternative that likely would die in the Democratic-controlled Senate or face a veto threat from Obama.

That argument looks especially compelling in light of Republican hopes of taking over the Senate in November.

"We know that we have a Senate that's not going to do much," Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said. He also pointed to the dwindling number of legislative days this year.

"There's not a lot of time but we're exploring a lot of different options," Upton said. "We haven't come to a conclusion yet."

Lawmakers are home in their districts this week listening to what voters are saying about the health care law, which as a political issue is getting increased competition from the post-mortem on the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, the Taliban prisoner exchange and treatment delays and reports of falsified records at VA medical facilities.

The House already has voted more than 50 times to repeal or excise all or part of the health care law. But it has been two months since the last vote attacking a fundamental provision of the law, and no further votes on the law have been scheduled.

Even ardent opponents now question the need to repeal the law in full. Repeal remains the official GOP position but is widely acknowledged to be impractical now that the initial problems with the enrollment website have subsided, people have signed up and popular provisions such as a ban on denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions have taken hold.

"I don't think anybody's talking about repealing the entire bill," said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who is a physician. "There are clearly sections of the bill ... that people are saying, 'OK, these are actually good things.'"

GOP pollster David Winston, who advises House Republicans, said "Obamacare" has remained unpopular, and he doesn't expect that to change before the November midterm elections. He said the challenge, and opportunity, for Republicans is to come up with solutions to new issues voters are experiencing, such as unexpectedly high deductibles.

"This plan has created a whole new raft of problems, and what they want to see is those problems resolved," Winston said. "And so the idea of shifting back to the previous set of problems versus the existing set of problems is not necessarily where they're focused."

The changing dynamic is evident on the campaign trail, where some Democrats have run ads publicizing their support for the law or attacking their opponents for resisting it. Some Republicans, meanwhile, are beginning to focus on fixes they would make to the law, rather than repeal. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has come under criticism from Democrats in his re-election campaign after vowing to repeal "Obamacare" while suggesting that Kentucky's state health insurance marketplace, which was created under the law, could remain.

On Capitol Hill scant consensus has emerged. Roe and other conservatives have rallied around a bill to repeal "Obamacare" and replace it with a series of traditionally Republican initiatives, including expanding access to health savings accounts and allowing insurance to be sold across state lines. Other lawmakers favor their own approaches. Some want a single bill, others a series of them.

Even if GOP leaders did put a bill on the floor, there's no guarantee their fractious caucus would hold together to pass it.

"There's a number of aspects we've been meeting on in the health care team, talking about those elements that will be in there," Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said. "Do I think we have enough to have a vote on it before October? I don't know if it will be on the schedule."

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Will that be a 6-bedroom suite or just a couch?

NEW YORK — Private elevators, personal shopping assistants, six-bedroom suites with their own postal codes. Even helipads. This is what the super-rich have come to expect from hotels.

For others, vacation now means renting someone's apartment, a spare room, maybe just a couch — anything to save on the cost of a hotel.

As the gap between the wealthiest travelers and everyone else has widened, so has the way people are experiencing vacations. The wealthy are looking for ever-more pampering. Many others are seeking new ways to economize.

And the lodging industry is adapting — at the high and low ends — to meet the diverging needs.

Luxury hotels are catering to financial elites from Russia, China, Brazil or the Middle East who now routinely hop around the world and don't mind dropping $20,000 a night for a glamorous accommodation.

"High-end travel in the air, on the sea and on land has never been more robust," says Steve Carvell, an associate dean at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. "There are more people with more concentrated wealth."

Luxury hotels are arising even at iconic middle-American tourism spots such as Walt Disney World. Four Seasons will open a 444-room resort there in August with 68 suites, including a nine-bedroom royal suite sporting a 1,000 square-foot (93-square-meter) private terrace with views of the park's nightly fireworks.

During the Great Recession, many resorts dropped "resort and spa" from their name. The idea was to appeal to corporate organizers who didn't want trips to seem extravagant. Excess now appears back in style.

In November, Four Seasons added the phrase "and residences" to its mountain resorts in Vail, Colorado; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Whistler, Canada. It's pursuing families seeking a residential experience with the pampering of a hotel staff.

The six-bedroom suite in Vail fetches $15,000 a night. You get three living rooms and a movie room. The suite includes a dedicated assistant who can arrange airport transfers, private ski lessons and after-hours shopping.

The return of extravagance reflects one characteristic of the recovery: After paring their vacations along with everyone else during the recession, the wealthy have rebounded with force. Since 2009, hotel spending by the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans has risen about 6 percent, according to inflation-adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 20 percent are still spending nearly 3 percent less.

To stretch their discretionary dollars, middle-income vacationers are fueling one of the industry's growth areas: "limited service" lodgings. At Marriott's Fairfield Inn, Hyatt Place and Holiday Inn Express, you get free Wi-Fi and breakfast. But there's no bellman, concierge or restaurants.

The idea is to draw travelers who feel priced out of full-service hotels. People can still say, "I'm staying at the Marriott," even if it's the Fairfield Inn, says Bjorn Hanson, dean of New York University's hospitality school.

But many people are seeking deeper savings through increasingly popular sites such as Airbnb that arrange for people to rent rooms or apartments. The number of listed accommodations has soared since Airbnb's founding in 2008 to 550,000 — not far below Hilton's 685,000 rooms worldwide. Some studies suggest that Airbnb could be cutting into budget hotels' revenue.

Robin Lynch, 34, of New York City put 14 relatives, including her in-laws, in five Airbnb facilities in Brooklyn for her wedding last year. She estimates she paid roughly $200 a night, on average, compared with the $300 she'd expected for a hotel.

"That amounts to a lot of savings over seven days," she says.

High unemployment and flat paychecks have spurred more people not only to stay in Airbnb rooms but also to list their own homes.

Eric Worley, 30, and his girlfriend stayed at an Airbnb home in Columbus, Ohio, for $59 a night — half the lowest hotel rate they could find.

"Not only am I saving money, I'm also helping out another person ... by giving them some extra money," he says. "I'd much rather do that than have a corporation overcharge me for what is essentially the same service."

Sometimes, the cut-rate experience goes further that visitors had expected. Ann Carman, 32, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, had always wanted to stay in an Airstream trailer. When she and her boyfriend visited Austin, Texas, in December 2013, she found one in a backyard. They weren't alone. Sharing their accommodations were a pig named Fern, two dogs and a rooster.

"I was like, 'They've got a pig in their backyard, we've got to stay there,'" she says.

Airbnb hosts can charge less than hotels because they typically don't pay accommodation taxes or meet safety or disability regulations. That's sparked grumbling from hotels — and from localities that lose out on tax revenue.

The luxury sphere is also trying to expand its base. Chains such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Mandarin Oriental are pursuing not just the uber-rich but increasingly the merely affluent.

"My father would never have stayed in a luxury hotel," Hanson says. "He didn't think he belonged there, even though he might have been able to afford it."

As more modestly rich travelers have checked in, these hotels have sought to provide more for the ultra-wealthy.

With the recently opened St. Regis Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, architects considered how much privacy to provide its most sumptuous suites, says Paul James, head of Starwood Hotels and Resorts' luxury properties.

"Part of the Abu Dhabi conversation was: 'Where does the helicopter land?'" James says.

More of the wealthiest travelers are now booking on shorter notice — sometime less than a day. The St. Regis Mardavall in Mallorca, Spain, got a call from a 30-something German asking about the local weather. The receptionist reported 85 degrees and blue skies. The traveler booked the largest available suite and said he'd arrive in an hour.

He made the call from his private jet circling above Madrid.

The elite traveler's experience was precisely what the Rosewood London had in mind when it opened its Grand Manor House Wing in December. The six-bedroom complex offers three living rooms, a library and a dining table for eight. It has its own street entrance and private elevator. For $42,000 a night, guests get some extra bragging rights: Their suite has its own postal code.

Mark Herron, general manager of the Four Seasons Vail, notes that his hotel recently arranged for a guest to feed elephants at a local zoo — even though the zoo was closed.

Then there was a celebrity who had a craving for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The nearest one was 28 miles (45 kilometers) way.

The hotel first tried to make it but couldn't match the recipe. "Plus, the celebrity wanted the bucket," Herron says.

Within an hour, the guest and his 21-person entourage had 10 buckets full of traditional and extra-crispy chicken.

Cornell's Carvell has a theory about why anyone makes such extravagant requests.

"They'll sometimes do it just to see if it can be done," he says. "They don't want to hear the word no."

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Rugaber reported from Washington.

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Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott and Chris Rugaber at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

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US productivity falls at 3.2 percent rate in 1Q

WASHINGTON — U.S. productivity fell even more than previously thought in the January-March period while labor costs rose at a faster pace.

Productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, declined at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter, the weakest showing since the beginning months of the recession in 2008, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Unit labor costs rose at a 5.7 percent rate, the fastest pace in more than a year.

Rising labor costs and falling productivity can be a cause for concern if they are an indication that inflation is worsening. But the first quarter performance was seen as a temporary bump caused by an unusually harsh winter which caused the economy to go into reverse. A strong rebound is expected in the current quarter.

Initially, the government reported that productivity fell at a smaller 1.7 percent rate in the first quarter. The initial estimate put the rise in labor costs at a 4.2 percent rate.

The reason the numbers were revised was that the economy's overall output in the first quarter, as measured by the gross domestic product, was revised sharply lower. Instead of the GDP growing at a tiny 0.1 percent rate in the January-March period, the government reported last week that the economy actually shrank, falling at a 1 percent rate.

Analysts believe overall GDP will bounce back in the current April-June period and they also are looking for productivity to recover as well.

The Federal Reserve keeps close watch on productivity and labor costs for any signs that inflation is threatening to rise to an unacceptable rate. But economists say the Fed will see the first quarter weakness in productivity and rise in labor costs as temporary developments reflecting the harsh winter rather than an indication of the start of a worrisome trend.

Even with the first quarter spurt in labor costs, overall wage pressures remain mild, reflecting the long period it has taken the economy to regain the millions of jobs lost during the Great Recession.

Economists are looking for a rebound in economic growth in the April-June quarter to around 3.8 percent as warmer weather boosts consumer spending.

They expect further job gains will lift incomes and spur consumer spending in the second half of the year when they are forecasting the economy will be growing at a solid annual rate of around 3 percent.

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A new 'Destiny' for non-sequel video games at E3

LOS ANGELES — Don't call it a comeback.

The recent success of "Titanfall" and "Watch Dogs" has laid the foundation for several new video games that don't contain numbers in their names to be hyped at next week's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade show. With anticipation building for several all-new titles, have game developers finally found the cure for sequelitis?

The industry has long mined popular games like "Call of Duty," ''Super Mario Bros." and "Final Fantasy" for a chain of spinoffs and sequels, but change is afoot ahead of this year's E3. The flashy trade show, expected to draw more than 48,000 attendees, will be populated by more original titles than in recent years.

The sci-fi shooter "Destiny," alternate history adventure "The Order: 1886," cartoony shoot-'em-up "Sunset Overdrive" and man-versus-monster match-up "Evolve" could steal attention away from the latest crop of "Call of Duty," ''Halo" and "Assassin's Creed" games, the same way that then unheard-of "Watch Dogs" and "Titanfall" did the past two years at E3.

Despite such triumphs, original games likely won't outnumber sequels at E3. There's a plethora of new installments scheduled to be promoted across the cavernous halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center, including the latest editions of "The Sims," ''Fable," ''Call of Duty," ''Far Cry," ''Metal Gear Solid," ''Dragon Age" and "Assassin's Creed" series.

"We're at the beginning of a hardware cycle, and we'll be at our annual show where we love to introduce new brands, so I think that means we'll have a higher combination of new brands than what you might have seen at E3 over the past three or four years," said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at "Watch Dogs" publisher Ubisoft.

"Watch Dogs," an open-world action game that casts players as a vigilante hacker roaming around Chicago, sold 4 million copies after it debuted last week, becoming gaming's best-selling "new IP." That's industry-speak for original intellectual property — essentially a game that's not a sequel or licensed from an existing entertainment franchise.

By showcasing the game's unique ability to "hack" into the virtual city's infrastructure, as well as other players' sessions, "Watch Dogs" cemented itself as the most talked-about game of E3 when Ubisoft unveiled it two years ago. Bungie, the studio responsible for the original "Halo" games, hopes for similar buzz for "Destiny."

"We have a new IP," said Eric Osborne, community and marketing relations manager at "Destiny" developer Bungie. "We're not forgetting that we have a lot of people to convince that what we're building is amazing. We're convinced over here, which is why we're gonna roll a 'beta' (test version) out in July and let people experience a huge chunk of the game for themselves."

Similar to the "Halo" games, "Destiny" is a first-person shooter set in a sprawling sci-fi galaxy, but unlike the developer's previous series, "Destiny" requires gamers to always play online and team up to take down foes. Activision Blizzard Inc. is spending $500 million to market and develop the game — an unprecedented monumental bet on a title with no proven track record.

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Online:

http://www.e3expo.com

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

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US trade deficit at two-year high in April

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit jumped to a two-year high in April, as exports declined and imports surged to a record high.

The deficit rose to $47.2 billion in April, up 6.9 percent from an upwardly revised March deficit of $44.2 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Exports dropped for the fourth month out of the past five, falling 0.2 percent to $195.4 billion. Meanwhile, imports climbed 1.2 percent to an all-time high of $240.6 billion, reflecting record shipment levels of foreign-made cars, food, computers and other goods.

A wider trade deficit can act as a drag on growth because it means U.S. companies are earning less from their overseas markets. But it could also indicate rising U.S. demand as the country shakes off the effects of a harsh winter.

"We're obviously wary of falling back on using the weather as an excuse again, but the extreme cold winter, coupled with the drought in California, does partly explain why the U.S. is suddenly importing a lot more food and exporting less," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

In 2013, the trade deficit declined by 11.4 percent to $476.4 billion. The result was led in part by a boom in U.S. energy production that cut America's dependence on foreign oil while boosting petroleum exports to a record high.

A larger trade gap in the first three months of this year compared to the fourth quarter shaved nearly a full percentage point from growth. Gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first quarter, also hurt by less business stocking of store shelves and a severe winter that disrupted consumer spending and factory production.

But economists expect a strong bounce back in the current April-June quarter. Some estimate that growth could hover around 3.8 percent as the trade deficit narrows and stronger hiring boosts household incomes and consumer spending. However, the bigger-than-expected trade deficit in April may cause analysts to trim those forecasts a bit.

Many analysts say growth will remain strong at a rate around 3 percent in the second half of the year.

A domestic energy boom may help narrow the trade gap further this year. U.S. petroleum exports rose to an all-time high in 2013. The stronger production also lowered America's dependence on foreign oil, cutting petroleum imports by 10.9 percent. In April, imports of petroleum fell 2.2 percent to $29.8 billion, while U.S. petroleum exports rose 3.1 percent to $11.8 billion.

The deficit with the 28-nation European Union hit a monthly record of $14 billion in April as imports from that region hit an all-time high.

America's trade gap with China jumped 33.7 percent to $27.3 billion in April, the largest gap since January. The U.S. deficit with China is the largest with any country, and this year's imbalance is running ahead of last year's record pace. That is putting pressure on the Obama administration to take a tougher stand on what critics see as unfair trade practices by China.

They say Beijing is manipulating its currency to keep it undervalued against the dollar. That makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and American products more expensive in China.

The administration last month announced it had won a major victory before the Geneva-based World Trade Organization in a case in which the United States had challenged China's imposition of penalty tariffs on the sale of $5 billion in U.S.-made vehicles in China.

Also in May, the Justice Department charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into U.S. companies' computer systems to steal trade secrets. The case was viewed as evidence of the increased commercial strains between the world's two biggest economies.

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Co-founder of Burt's Bees says he was ousted

PARKMAN, Maine — Conventional wisdom suggests the Burt behind Burt's Bees left the company after he became disillusioned with the corporate world in North Carolina and wanted to return to his solitary life in Maine.

The reality, Burt Shavitz says, is that he was forced out by co-founder Roxanne Quimby after he had an affair with an employee.

So the man on the Burt's Bees logo that promises "Earth-friendly natural personal care products" ended up with 37 acres in Maine, and an undisclosed sum of money.

And he's not complaining.

"In the long run, I got the land, and land is everything. Land is positively everything. And money is nothing really worth squabbling about. This is what puts people six feet under. You know, I don't need it," he told a filmmaker on property where the company was launched in the 1980s.

The reclusive beekeeper whose simple life became complicated by his status as a corporate icon is now the subject of a documentary, "Burt's Buzz," which opens Friday in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix and Cleveland.

Interviewed by The Associated Press on his land in Maine, Shavitz declined to discuss his relationship with Quimby.

"What I have in this situation is no regret," he said, sitting in a rocking chair. "The bottom line is she's got her world and I've got mine, and we let it go at that."

Shavitz, 79, grew up around New York, served in the Army in Germany and shot photos for Time-Life before leaving New York for the backwoods of Maine.

He was a hippie making a living by selling honey when his life was altered by a chance encounter with a hitchhiking Quimby. She was a single mother and a back-to-the-lander who impressed Shavitz with her ingenuity and self-sufficiency.

She began making products from his beeswax, and they became partners. An image of Burt's face — and his untamed beard — was featured on labels.

The partnership ended on a sour note after the business moved in 1994 to North Carolina, where it continued to expand before Shavitz was given the boot.

In the documentary, Shavitz sounds both bitter and ambivalent.

"Roxanne Quimby wanted money and power, and I was just a pillar on the way to that success," he said.

Quimby, who made more than $300 million when she sold the company, disagrees with any suggestion that Shavitz was treated improperly.

"Everyone associated with the company was treated fairly, and in some cases very generously, upon the sale of the company and my departure as CEO. And that, of course, includes Burt," she said in an email to the AP.

Shavitz lives in a cluttered house that has no hot water; he used to live in a converted turkey coop on the same property. He still likes to watch nature pass by.

All manner of critters traipse across the land: deer, moose, pine martens, even a pack of cacophonous coyotes. On a recent day, six baby foxes played in the field.

"Golly dang!" he exclaimed, his blue eyes gazing.

His humble life is a long way from the one where he stays in four-star hotels during promotional trips. The movie juxtaposes his ideal day, one in which he's left alone, against a trip to Taiwan, where he was greeted like a rock star by fans wearing faux beards and bee costumes.

Director Jody Shapiro said his documentary presents contrasts: a man who wants a simple life but also likes to travel and experience new things; a vegetarian who likes to shoot guns; a man who's content to sell honey but also helped launch a big business.

He described Shavitz as "an authentic character" but still isn't sure what makes him tick.

"After hanging out with him for a year, I stopped searching," he said. "Is he more complicated, or am I trying to make him more complicated?"

Shavitz doesn't plan to change a thing. He has his three golden retrievers. And he has his land.

"I had no desire to be an upward-mobile-rising yuppie with a trophy wife, a trophy house, a trophy car. I wasn't looking for any of those things. I already had what I wanted," he said in the documentary. "No one has ever accused me of being ambitious," he joked.

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Follow David Sharp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP

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