There is a lot of learning. Some of it is kind of humbling. Some of it’s humiliating. But it’s all very fascinating and the longer I do it the more engaged I become.

– Patricia Butler

The post It’s all very fascinating appeared first on Sister Bee.

This year has been the biggest head-scratcher for beekeeping for me in all the years I’ve bee-kept. One hive started strong and ended stronger. Another hive started weak and stayed weak. And I re-queened it. I went through it. I looked. I kept finding eggs and everything looked fine. I’d close it up, I’d look again. It made two frames of honey. That is all. I have no idea.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post Biggest head-scratcher appeared first on Sister Bee.

People say that beekeepers are weird but I don’t think so. No, the beekeepers I know are actually all very different.

– Mery Molenaar

The post Weird? I don’t think so appeared first on Sister Bee.

I don’t ever remember not wanting to keep bees. So I can’t really remember how I came to it. It was just from the garden.

– Julie Finley

The post Just from the garden appeared first on Sister Bee.

It takes a certain amount of strength. And that’s my one problem because I’m not large. Being a smaller woman, it’s hard but you can figure out ways to do just about all of it.

– Marge McLellan

The post That’s my one problem appeared first on Sister Bee.

Honey: it transports me backwards. I can’t even explain it. It all tastes differently depending on what kind of flower sources are used. Whatever my bees have is what tastes really good to me.

– Ruth Eastman

The post It transports me backwards appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

– Patricia Butler

The post Having them comfortable with me appeared first on Sister Bee.

I started walking around the farm and noticing that at ten in the morning they were in the eucalyptus tree. And at two in the afternoon they were in the garden with the raspberries. And I started realizing that flowers flower at different times. Which makes perfect sense for the bees because if the flowers all flowered at the same time their pollination would get messed up. So the flowers are very clever and the bees follow that.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post The flowers are very clever appeared first on Sister Bee.

I use some smoke to quiet them down before I even open it up. I don’t use a whole lot of it. Most of the time the bees will just be busy doing their thing. They don’t really want to bother me. And as long as they don’t see me as too much of a threat, they won’t.

– Mery Molenaar

The post As long as they don’t see me as too much of a threat appeared first on Sister Bee.

They’re harvesting nectar and they’re making wax. Find somebody else who’s putting less negative energy in the world and I’ll give you a dollar.

– Julie Finley

The post Harvesting nectar, making wax appeared first on Sister Bee.

I think she looks beautiful. She’s like the heroine of this tribe.

– Ruth Eastman

The post Heroine of this tribe appeared first on Sister Bee.

They’re getting a little mad now. Can you hear that? They’re getting loud. Fed up with me bugging them.

– Mery Molenaar

The post Fed up appeared first on Sister Bee.

If you can be in the moment once in a while you actually can get lost in it.

– Patricia Butler

The post In the moment appeared first on Sister Bee.

The queen is moving and the whole yard is just a cloud of bees and I’ve stood in the middle of that and they just go by me.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post The queen is moving appeared first on Sister Bee.

I don’t know if I told you this before, how we inherited the hives? Well, my husband had a friend that he worked with who was transferred to Zaire in Africa. He said, “I’ll give you my two beehives.” So we went over and picked them up. I didn’t know a thing about bees or anything . . . We put the beehives in the back of the truck but we didn’t secure them with any bungee cords or anything around them so they wouldn’t come apart. And of course they came apart. (Fortunately we didn’t go on U.S. 36. We went on the back roads.) But by the time we got here the cab of the truck was just full of bees. I jumped out and they came in the house right away. He (my husband) came in and soon we found out he was allergic to bees because he was swollen all over and it was bad. We had to go to the doctor and everything. Se we just sort of ignored the beehives that were out there and we didn’t do anything. He didn’t get near them.

After he passed away I thought, hmm . . . I’m kind of interested in bees. So I started becoming more interested in reading about them. And then I had a friend that was a beekeeper and that was how I just started learning.

– Marge McLellan

The post I’m kind of interested in bees appeared first on Sister Bee.

They’re such beautiful creatures in the garden. When you watch them on the sunflower, or you just watch what they’re doing, they’re really intent and focused . . . They’re benevolent when you’re working with them.

– Julie Finley

The post Beautiful creatures in the garden appeared first on Sister Bee.

I knew very, very little about beekeeping . . . And I did not know any beekeepers when I was growing up. But I just thought it was fascinating and I had the time and wanted to know more about it. It’s been a wonderful experience.

– Mery Molenaar

The post I wanted to know more about it appeared first on Sister Bee.

I didn’t know any beekeepers when I was growing up. I just thought it was fascinating and I had the time and I wanted to know more about it. I wanted to learn something new.

– Mery Molenaar

The post Something new appeared first on Sister Bee.

Last year I had both hives swarm. This year I thought, I won’t make that mistake. But I’m still learning. And I’m sure I always will.

– Patricia Butler

The post Always learning appeared first on Sister Bee.

My career is teaching environmental science . . . and of all the programs I’ve ever created, the one that I know has the most impact on people is the bee program because they’re such amazing animals. It helps draw people out of themselves and into an awareness and appreciation of something else.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post They’re such amazing animals appeared first on Sister Bee.

Beekeeping takes my thoughts away from me and gives them more to something else.

– Marge McLellan

The post Why I’m interested in beekeeping appeared first on Sister Bee.

We’re in these little cubicles and we’re on cell phones all the time and we’re really divorced from the natural world. And an experience of the environment is something people look for on the weekend on their mountain bike or extreme kayaking or whatever. I just realized for myself I need that every day. And so coming to the garden is how I decided to make that fit into my life.

– Julie Finley

The post Divorced from the natural world appeared first on Sister Bee.

One of the things that’s fascinating to me is how then can be so intent on what they’re doing. Their whole life is committed to getting pollen and nectar. And the nurse bees, before they go out into the field they’re raising the new bees, caring for the larvae, feeding them. I’m just amazed at the world of bees.

– Ruth Eastman

The post I’m just amazed at the world of bees appeared first on Sister Bee.

I chose VHX to mange the online streaming of Sister Bee because they’re a responsive and independent-film-friendly organization. 

The post Watch now! appeared first on Sister Bee.

With a demonstration hive it’s wonderful to see the bees crawl around and to see actual living animals in there.

– Mery Molenaar

The post The demonstration hive appeared first on Sister Bee.

The ability to work with these insects and feel their rhythms, to know what they’re going to do before they do it so you can anticipate swarming, for example, and just being in touch with this fascinating little community, is part of what I mean.

– Patricia Butler

The post There’s so much art appeared first on Sister Bee.

The movement of the bees seemed deliberate. It didn’t seem chaotic. It didn’t seem like just a mass of movement. It seemed deliberate like there was a purpose there.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post It seemed deliberate appeared first on Sister Bee.

I think their culture is fascinating to watch . . . When they’re born they have a job for them, and the jobs are all planned, and they do it, and there’s no fighting. It’s just fascinating how they take care of things.

– Marge McLellan

The post Fascinating to watch appeared first on Sister Bee.

The post FREE screening in Boulder, Colorado this Thursday! appeared first on Sister Bee.

Disclosure: Tom Theobald, the voice of Tom’s Corner, is a personal friend and the subject of my current documentary in progress.

The post Beekeepers sue the EPA appeared first on Sister Bee.

There’s just a kind of magic around the queen. She’s like the holy mother, right? If she’s not well then nothing is well in that world.

– Julie Finley

The post Holy mother appeared first on Sister Bee.

Part of my love is is that I love the woodworking, working in my wood shop and just . . . working!

– Ruth Eastman

The post Part of my love appeared first on Sister Bee.

My son was due in February and the wood for my first hives came in January so I was getting pretty big. And I was getting nervous because I wanted the wood part done before my son was born . . . So I said to my husband, “You need to help me.” I really wanted to do it myself. But I needed some help, so we divided it up.

– Mery Molenaar

The post We divided it up appeared first on Sister Bee.

I play with a chamber group that has some flutes, cellos and violas as well as violins and a harpsichord. There’s this amazing sense of unity when everybody plays together . . . I think I just feel a little bit transported and I can’t describe anymore clearly what that means.

– Patricia Butler

The post That just sounded neat appeared first on Sister Bee.

My goal for this year is to get that one hive looking like it’s solid and strong again and setting them up so they’re in good shape for the winter. I’m not thinking I’m going to get very much honey.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post Solid and strong appeared first on Sister Bee.

If it were warm I’d go out there but it’s too cold to check the bees today.

– Marge McLellan

The post Too cold appeared first on Sister Bee.

– Laura Tyler

The post Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring appeared first on Sister Bee.

6/23/12

The post Cambridge, Massachusetts appeared first on Sister Bee.

Sometimes I’ve opened the box and known, “Oh, that’s a virgin queen.” Then I feel like I’m intruding. If you make a mistake right then and squish the wrong bee, it’s all over.

– Julie Finley

The post Intruding appeared first on Sister Bee.

– Ruth Eastman

The post So much wonderful help appeared first on Sister Bee.

Do you ever go out to your hives and just sit there and watch them?

– Mery Molenaar

The post Sitting and watching appeared first on Sister Bee.

I’m still very nervous about the whole thing even though it’s completely fascinating and I’m definitely much more in awe than I could have understood I could be.

– Patricia Butler

The post I didn’t know what it would be like appeared first on Sister Bee.

Every year that I beekeep I come away with more awe for them. And every year I manipulate the hive less and less because I feel like they know what they’re doing.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post Every year that I beekeep appeared first on Sister Bee.

5/18/12

The post Thornton, Colorado appeared first on Sister Bee.

4/19/12

The post Littleton, Massachusetts appeared first on Sister Bee.

3/10/12

The post Frankfort, Kentucky appeared first on Sister Bee.

I like to be active. My house is kind of picked up right now but I’ve got a box over there of flower stuff because I’m giving a flower program next week. I’ve got a box here and a box there. I’m just interested in a lot of things and always willing to learn.

– Marge McLellan

The post It’s just the way I am appeared first on Sister Bee.

Disclosure: Tom Theobald, the voice of Tom’s Corner, is a personal friend and the subject of my current documentary in progress.

The post Where to get breaking bee news appeared first on Sister Bee.

I think they’re simply benevolent. You know, they’re just working, just like the rest of us.

– Julie Finley

The post Simply benevolent appeared first on Sister Bee.

I thought, “Oh, well that’ll be fun!”

– Marge McLellan

The post Fun appeared first on Sister Bee.

These worker bees work so hard and give up their lives in such a short period of time for this wonderful, golden, sweet honey that we love so much. I don’t know, I truly am emotionally attached to both my hives.

– Ruth Eastman

The post Attached appeared first on Sister Bee.

Some people say that beekeepers are weird but I don’t think so. The beekeepers I know are actually all very different.

– Mery Molenaar

The post The beekeepers I know appeared first on Sister Bee.

The other thing that I find just amazing is how they can start from scratch and make twenty frames of comb in a matter of just weeks.

– Patricia Butler

The post The other thing appeared first on Sister Bee.

All these little tiny bundles of energy are just buzzing around and leaving the yard and I don’t have a clue where they’re going. I can’t follow them and see what six mile distance they’ve gone. But they come back to this home unerringly and bring this gift from the flowers back with them and they work so hard to do it that they just humble me.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post They put me in my proper place appeared first on Sister Bee.

The post Celebrating National Pollinator Week appeared first on Sister Bee.

I remember I picked up a swarm of bees over here in the neighborhood a couple of years ago… At night I had to come home dragging the garden cart with my bees suit on. My bee suit is made for a taller person than I am and the neighbors looked at me, they thought I was becoming senile, but I got my swarm of bees!

– Marge McLellan

The post It’s fun, getting a swarm appeared first on Sister Bee.

I heard this buzzing, this incredible sound in the air, and there were thousands of bees. I went, “Oh my gosh! They’ve swarmed out of the hive!” and just stood there watching them. I know I must have been crying because I thought of all the work it took (to move the feral colony into the hive) and now they’ve left in about thirty seconds… I called my friend Mark, my bee mentor, and told him what happened and he said, “Well, go get ‘em!”

– Ruth Eastman

The post Well, go get ‘em! appeared first on Sister Bee.

– Mery Molenaar

The post I feel confident appeared first on Sister Bee.

There are a lot of different opinions and people will give you different advice… and that is in itself interesting. But ultimately, as an individual, you have to make the decision about what you’re going to do (with your bees).

– Patricia Butler

The post It’s your decision appeared first on Sister Bee.

11/19/11

The post Lowell, Massachusetts appeared first on Sister Bee.

3/25/11

The post Leavenworth, Washington appeared first on Sister Bee.

During the spring and summer the queen lays up to 2000 eggs a day. It’s just mind boggling that an animal that is born with all the eggs she’s going to lay in her life can lay 2000 eggs a day and can live for five years! I mean, that’s a huge, massive amount of eggs! There are just so many things like that about bees and each little piece of information like that just blows my mind.

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post Blows my mind appeared first on Sister Bee.

I’m a gardener. I’m not so much into flowers but I’m into vegetables and things that I can eat… That’s my small contribution… Raising my own food, not using sprays, trying to conserve on gasoline and heat and energy right here.

– Marge McLellan

The post My small contribution appeared first on Sister Bee.

The post Sister Bee has a Facebook page appeared first on Sister Bee.

Let’s say the creator is a beautiful mother. She doesn’t love one of her babies more than the next one, right? She loves them differently, maybe. But she loves them equally. And, you know, we can imagine any kind of creator we want… So from my world view I guess that just because we’re human doesn’t mean we have any more of God’s love than that butterfly that just went by. He loves us all the same. Or she loves us all the same.

– Julie Finley

The post Beautiful mother appeared first on Sister Bee.

3/12/11

The post Brooklyn, New York appeared first on Sister Bee.

It appeals to me, to be outside working the bees and watching them.

– Ruth Eastman

The post It appeals to me appeared first on Sister Bee.

The post Breaking news in the bee world appeared first on Sister Bee.

Sometimes I go out there and sit by myself with my son and watch the bees bringing in their pollen and flying in and out… It’s always nice to be around animals. I want my children to grow up around animals and this is just the beginning of that.

– Mery Molenaar

The post Watching appeared first on Sister Bee.

I tend to be able to get things done in a hurry, and that works for me, but beekeeping is an activity that I think is going to teach me patience because otherwise you just waste time.

– Patricia Butler

The post Methodical, patient and slow appeared first on Sister Bee.

More honey, honey, honey, honey, honey…

– Suzanne Connolly Howes

The post Honey, honey, honey, honey, honey… appeared first on Sister Bee.

The more you know about it don’t you think you like it more?

– Marge McLellan

The post I just like it more all the time appeared first on Sister Bee.

An experience of the environment is something people look for on the weekend on their mountain bike or doing extreme kayaking or whatever. I just realized, for myself, that I need to experience the environment every day. So coming to the garden is how I decided to make that fit into my life.

– Julie Finley

The post Coming to the garden appeared first on Sister Bee.

11/12/10 – 12/10/10

The post Nacogdoches, Texas appeared first on Sister Bee.

“You know, you reach a time in your life when you’re not trying to impress. You just want to get along.”
- Marge McLellan

Marjorie McLellan, the older beekeeper in Sister Bee, passed away on Friday, July 16th.

The above quote is one I treasure from Sister Bee. It’s a tricky one that I didn’t get at first though did feel it was important when Marge first said it because her tone shifted markedly from lighthearted self-deprecation to solemnity. My first thought was that it had something to do with resignation and the giving up or softening of one’s opinions/principles/stridency with age. Today I feel differently. I think she was talking about an opening that comes with maturity. When we’re young there’s so much to prove! But as we age and gain confidence it’s possible to take a break from “trying to impress” to listen and appreciate what others have to say.

Marge McLellan modeled graceful aging for me. She was a dear friend and mentor to many. I miss her already.

– Laura

Marge McLellan using the uncapping knife on a frame of honey

Marge McLellan walking with her garden cart

The post Marjorie McLellan, 1925 – 2010 appeared first on Sister Bee.

– The Writer’s Almanac

The post Midsummer Night’s Eve appeared first on Sister Bee.

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.

– Ruth Eastman

The post Working with my hands appeared first on Sister Bee.

4/20/10

The post Loveland, Colorado appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

– Laura

The post Sister Bee beekeeper to teach beekeeping in Boulder, CO appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post They’re pretty easy pets appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post Patience appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post They know what they’re doing appeared first on Sister Bee.

1/26/10

Hosted by Slow Food St. Louis

The post St. Louis, Missouri appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post They’re alive! appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post It’s like church in there, isn’t it? appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

– Ruth Eastman

The post Sometimes they’re not appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post They’re helping each other appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post Hooked appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post I love giving away honey appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post People are odd animals appeared first on Sister Bee.

Oh, jeez, look at all this honey!

– Julie Finley

The post Honey appeared first on Sister Bee.

It’s like entering a different world.

– Ruth Eastman

The post A different world appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post A determined, direct way of living appeared first on Sister Bee.

– Laura

The post Beesource appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post You simply have to experience it appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post My whole reason for bees appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post I just like to see the bees living and doing well appeared first on Sister Bee.

When you take the lid off of that box there’s a kind of benevolence that comes from it. 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

The post Benevolence appeared first on Sister Bee.

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 post It’s a slow speed appeared first on Sister Bee.

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

The post Sister Bee Trailer now available on YouTube appeared first on Sister Bee.