Sister Bee » Outtakes

Working with my hands

laura — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 21:24:26 +0000

Somebody said to me one time, “You do massage, why in the world would you do woodworking? What if you cut off your finger or hand or something?” To me, doing massage, doing woodworking, and when I stop and think about it, working with the bees… I’m working with my hands. I’m physically involved as well as emotionally involved. It makes total sense to me that I’m engrossed in all three of those things…

I love the woodworking part (of beekeeping).

- Ruth Eastman

They know what they’re doing

laura — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:02:21 +0000

Half the time I go in there, I don’t know what they’re doing. I don’t know if I’m reading them right. But I know they know what they’re doing. It’s very clear.

- Suzanne Connolly Howes

It’s like church in there, isn’t it?

laura — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:44:40 +0000

It’s like church in there isn’t it? I mean, it’s sacred in there. I guess, for me, in a box of bees, you don’t have to explain yourself. You don’t have to understand everything that’s going on. Everything they do eventually makes sense even if I don’t understand it at the time. All of that to me is feminine.

- Julie Finley

Sometimes they’re not

laura — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:05:24 +0000

It seems like I should be able to have friendlier bees, but sometimes they’re not.

- Ruth Eastman

Hooked

laura — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:40:14 +0000

A friend once said it takes a year or two for people to decide whether or not to stick with beekeeping. For some people it’s too much work. Other people get hooked. I’m definitely hooked.

- Patricia Butler

I love giving away honey

laura — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:16:31 +0000

I don’t sell my honey. I give it to my friends and family and the people who love it are the ones who get the most. I love giving away honey to people who really appreciate it.

- Suzanne Connolly Howes

Honey

laura — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:15:49 +0000

Oh, jeez, look at all this honey!

- Julie Finley

A different world

laura — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:49:25 +0000

It’s like entering a different world.

- Ruth Eastman

A determined, direct way of living

laura — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:04:42 +0000

The most intriguing thing about bees for me is the way they communicate with one another. The way they build their comb, the hexagonal shape, it’s fascinating how well they work together. It’s a really determined, direct way of living.

- Mery Molenaar

I just like to see the bees living and doing well

laura — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:34:47 +0000

It’s just wonderful to see them! When I take the cover off the hive I’m just fascinated to watch them go about their jobs, working so hard. They know exactly what to do.

– Marge McLellan

It’s a slow speed

laura — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:29:32 +0000

It’s a slow speed. You don’t answer the phone. You don’t do anything else while you’re with them. You just get lost, I mean hours… I can be with those bees for three or four hours, come in and realize I missed lunch, it’s three hours later, but I don’t care!

- Ruth Eastman

Best lessons

laura — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:37:03 +0000

Some of the hardest lessons, the best lessons, have come from making dumb mistakes.

- Patricia Butler

What I wore

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:18:42 +0000

I didn’t know anything about bees and I was scared about getting stung because as a kid I had kicked a yellow jacket nest and I had gotten probably a hundred stings on my body. I was actually really nervous about getting in and working them the first time because I didn’t know what they would do. I wore two pairs of pants, a long turtleneck, another shirt and then the suit and I died because I was really hot!

But I didn’t get stung. And I got fascinated looking at them.

- Suzanne Connolly Howes

A sting in my pocket

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:17:35 +0000

My dad was a beekeeper. He had been a beekeeper way before I was born and still kept bees as I was growing up. I remember bees in the backyard because I remember being stung once. I put a bouquet of flowers in my pocket and got stung. It was pretty painful but it always stuck with me.

- Ruth Eastman

Life!

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:17:10 +0000

It’s wonderful to see… life!

- Mery Molenaar

Pollinators

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:16:43 +0000

I’ve always been interested in bees as pollinators, but when we lived in the city I didn’t think I had to worry that much about them. When we moved out here it was my intention to plant fruit trees. So in the back of my mind I thought it would be important to keep bees.

- Patricia Butler