Beeginnings

One of my earliest memories is spending time with my brothers hunting bees. Summers in east Texas were hot and we usually dressed in just shorts. But when on a "hunt", we put on "Keds" canvas shoes. These offered protection and doubled as weapons to stomp our prey as they gathered nectar on white clover.

Through the eyes of a suburban child, stinging insects were the enemy and we felt duty bound to make a difference. Our safaris likely had little impact on the general bee population despite our earnest efforts. I take some comfort in that.

But what we so ardently tried to accomplish fifty years ago appears to have come to pass. In 2008 I first began to notice that I didn't see honey bees in my garden, on my fruit trees or anywhere on my land. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for them. Over the next three years I did not see a single honey bee.

It could be said that I have now come full circle, for now my goal is to impact the honey bee population in a different direction than what my brothers and I attempted as children. What I once considered an enemy is now an ally. I became a beekeeper.