She Said

Quotes Notes and Outtakes…

…from the Sister Bee beekeepers plus director’s notes by Laura Tyler.

“Tonight is Midsummer Night’s Eve, also called St. John’s Eve. St. John is the patron saint of beekeepers. It’s a time when the hives are full of honey. The full moon that occurs this month was called the Mead Moon, because honey was fermented to make mead. That’s where the word “honeymoon” comes from, because it’s also a time for lovers. An old Swedish proverb says, ‘Midsummer Night is not long but it sets many cradles rocking.’”

- The Writer’s Almanac

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

Have you heard? It’s been another tough winter for the bees. There’s a good interview with Colorado beekeeper and friend of Sister Bee Tom Theobald on KSIR’s Noon Farm Show.

- Laura

Learn beekeeping from Sister Bee beekeeper Julie Finley. Register and find out more at Growing Gardens of Boulder County. Highly recommended.

- Laura

I’ve always been interested in nature and this is just a great way of being together with animals. They’re pretty easy pets. They’re really easy pets, actually. And you have a lot of them.

- Mery Molenaar

One of the things I think I’ll learn from this hobby is more patience. I just want to do it right and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way! It takes experience and exposure and patience.

- Patricia Butler

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

Maybe, now that I think about it, there’s something spiritual about being out there with those bees… You really see there’s something controlling things, you know. And they’re alive! That’s my definition of spirituality, to be alive and get involved. You sense that in nature, don’t you?

- Marge McLellan

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

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

- Ruth Eastman

When a bee comes back to the hive she doesn’t put the honey in the comb herself, she gives it to somebody else, then another bee will process it or put it away. They share things. They live together. They’re helping each other.

- Mery Molenaar

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 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

When I first started keeping bees I was giving honey away. I got the feeling after a year or so that I’d walk into a room and people would say, “Oh, here she comes with her honey.” So I decided I’m not going to do that anymore and started charging for it. As soon as I started charging, “Oh! Where’s your honey?” I don’t know why humans are that way but they are. If you charge a little tiny bit for it, they want it.

– Marge McLellan

Oh, jeez, look at all this honey!

- Julie Finley

It’s like entering a different world.

- Ruth Eastman

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

There’s a nice Sister Bee thread on the beekeeping forum, Beesource. Includes commentary about Sister Bee being an all women production.

- Laura

What I’ve found expecially interesting and difficult is just understanding the bees, beginning to become comfortable with their rhythms and of course, having them comfortable with me, things you can’t really teach. There’s a great deal of this activity that you simply have to experience.

- Patricia Butler

It’s funny how many beekeepers I’ve met and talked to recently who don’t actually eat very much honey. And I don’t eat very much honey.

My whole reason for bees is more because I love bees and I want to have a place for them and I love having them in my backyard. I just love… I LOVE calling myself a beekeeper… So I don’t need to be really aggressive about having a huge harvest from them.

- Suzanne Connolly Howes

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

When you take the lid off of that box there’s a kind of benevolence that comes from it… you know, just the amount of food they make, their generosity… is really kind of astounding. They’re just so sisterly and I think that really comes through in their work and in their presence and in their energy.

- Julie Finley

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

The Sister Bee trailer is now available on YouTube! I hope this is helpful for those of you unable to view the QuickTime movie on the home page. You’re warmly invited to pass it on to your friends.

Thank you.

- Laura

This spring our pussy willow was blooming and it was covered, completely covered with bees… And it was beautiful. At that point they were so busy getting the pollen… that they weren’t bothering me at all. It’s different from being in the hive. If you open up their hive they can get made at you. They’ll buzz around you and try and bug you to get you out of there. But when you’re right next to a tree with a lot of bees they’re so busy doing their work that they don’t bother you at all.

- Mery Molenaar

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

- Patricia Butler

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

I’m a beekeeper. Um hmm… The bees keep me.

– Marge McLellan

I’m a gardener. I came to the bees from the garden, you know, just wanted to know more about pollination. I don’t ever remember not wanting to keep bees.

- Julie Finley

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

It’s wonderful to see… life!

- Mery Molenaar

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