Sister Bee

Marjorie McLellan, 1925 – 2010

laura — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:23:42 +0000

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

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

The above quote is one of my favorites from Sister Bee. It’s a tricky one. I don’t think I got it at first. I knew it was important when Marge said it because her tone shifted from lighthearted self-deprecation to solemnity. I used to think it had something to do with resignation and the giving up or softening of ones opinions/principles/stridency with age. Today I see it differently. I think it’s about an opening that comes with maturity. When we’re young we have so much to prove. As we age and gain confidence it’s possible to take a break from proving ourselves to listen and appreciate what others have to offer. I think it’s about empathy.

Marge McLellan using the uncapping knife on a frame of honey

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

Marge McLellan walking with her garden cart

Midsummer Night’s Eve

laura — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:56:44 +0000

“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

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

Loveland, Colorado

laura — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 22:28:15 +0000

Bee Week
Loveland Museum

4/20/10

Another tough winter

laura — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:44:27 +0000

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

Sister Bee beekeeper to teach beekeeping in Boulder, CO

laura — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:50:44 +0000

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

- Laura

They’re pretty easy pets

laura — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:07:19 +0000

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

Patience

laura — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:05:32 +0000

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

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

St. Louis, Missouri

laura — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:35:35 +0000

Urban Homesteading Series
Schlafly Bottleworks

1/26/10

Hosted by Slow Food St. Louis

They’re alive!

laura — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:01:02 +0000

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?

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

They’re helping each other

laura — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:43:35 +0000

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

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

People are odd animals

laura — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:21:31 +0000

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

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

Beesource

laura — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:31:05 +0000

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

- Laura

You simply have to experience it

laura — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:53:47 +0000

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

My whole reason for bees

laura — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:23:16 +0000

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

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

Benevolence

laura — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:07:36 +0000

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

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

Sister Bee Trailer now available on YouTube

laura — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:28:27 +0000

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

When you’re right next to a tree

laura — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:31:05 +0000

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

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

Belfast, Maine

laura — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:52:34 +0000

An Evening with the Bees
Belfast Free Library

6/23/09

Hosted by Maine Farmland Trust

Fairmont, West Virginia

laura — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:13:59 +0000

West Virginia Beekeepers Association 2009 Spring Meeting
Trinity Assembly of God Church

3/28/09

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

Who keeps whom?

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:18:17 +0000

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

– Marge McLellan

The gardener

laura — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:17:56 +0000

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

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

Denver, Colorado

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:59:13 +0000

Sustainability Film Series
Denver Botanic Gardens

2/19/09

Lincoln, Nebraska

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:58:33 +0000

Chemical Free Beekeeping Conference
Southeast Community College

11/22/08

Hosted by the Nebraska Beekeepers Association

Des Plaines, Illinois

admin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:56:24 +0000

Feminist Ecology Exhibition
Koehnline Museum of Art

10/28/08 – 11/7/08

Huntington, West Virginia

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:54:01 +0000

Heartland Apiculture Society Annual Meeting
Marshall University

7/10/2008

Boulder, Colorado

admin — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:54:52 +0000

Summer Sustainability Forum
Chautauqua Community House

6/23/08

Hosted by Transition Boulder County

Beverly, Massachusetts

admin — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:55:36 +0000

Montserrat Encaustic Conference
Montserrat College of Art

6/7/08 – 6/8/08

Boulder, Colorado

admin — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:52:40 +0000

Bioneers Conference
University of Colorado

10/19/07

Crestone, Colorado

laura — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:18:51 +0000

Crestone Energy Fair
Crestone, Colorado

8/31/07

Boulder, Colorado

admin — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:41:08 +0000

Sustainability Forum
Boulder Outlook Hotel

8/16/07

Hosted by Transition Boulder County

Providence, Rhode Island

admin — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:38:12 +0000

Rhode Island Premiere
AS220

7/23/07

Hosted by the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association

Portland, Maine

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 23:39:40 +0000

Maine Premiere
University of Southern Maine

7/20/07

Hosted by the University of Southern Maine Biology Club

Fort Collins, Colorado

admin — Wed, 02 May 2007 23:36:16 +0000

Northern Colorado Premiere
Colorado State University

5/2/07

Hosted by the Gillette Entomology Club and Northern Colorado Beekeepers Association

Denver, Colorado

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:35:17 +0000

Cinema West 21
Documentary Cinema Institute

3/19/07

Niwot, Colorado

admin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:34:06 +0000

Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association Annual Meeting
Niwot Grange Hall

11/15/06

Boulder, Colorado

admin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:31:59 +0000

Premiere
Boulder Public Library

11/15/06

Hosted by the Boulder County Beekeepers’ Association

New York, New York

admin — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:23:43 +0000

IFP Market
Angelika Film Center

9/17/06 – 9/21/06