Beekeeping 101

My fascination with bees started only in the last few years during a trip to Arista Winery when I noticed many bees busying themselves in the lavender by the house. I had known there was a hive in one of the nearby trees, but these bees were buzzing in and out of simple wood boxes on the hill. And in fact this was the very first time it have ever occurred to me that bees could actually be *kept*... and by normal people, no less. I've since been trying to convince my friend D'Aun to get bees for her olive orchard - no success yet, but I plan to remain persistent.

This interest has remained pretty under-explored since I moved to San Francisco and took up nursing instead of bees. But last Christmas, my mom handed me an envelope and explained that "kind of a funny present" was inside. It was a groupon certificate for a Beekeeping 101 class taught by Randy Sue's Bee Haven in Cotati, California (about 45 miles north of San Francisco off Hwy 101). So last week, I finally cashed it in and joined about 40 other wannaBEEs (sorry, couldn't resist) in a jam-packed room for Randy Sue's three hour class.

And It. Was. AWESOME. I completely geeked out. I even moved to a seat closer to the front halfway through the class just so I could have a table to write notes on more easily and see all of her show-and-tell goodies on the table more closely. Randy Sue is SO passionate and knowledgeable about all-things-bees and she was quite simply a joy to listen to and get excited with about the whole thing. I learned about everything from creating the hive to getting a swarm of bees to what to expect from the colonies and the roles of the individual bees in them. I learned about what bees like and don't like, and how they are equipped to handle any and all adversities that can effect the hive such as bacteria, pests, and weather. We talked about honey and all of its amazing uses INCLUDING its antibacterial properties - which I can vouch for because we use a product in the hospital called Medihoney for wound care.

Anyway, I will cut myself off here before I get too crazy and into specific factoids. But seriously... one day I will have the last laugh about this when you are all hitting me up for my honey with labels that read - "Too Much Awesome" Honey by Carrie Shaffer, KEEPER OF BEES.