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

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

– Ruth Eastman

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

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

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

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

– Marge McLellan

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

I’d like to be a part of getting other people excited about having bees . . . or anything that has to do with beekeeping. Because I had so much wonderful help from other people.

– Ruth Eastman

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

– Mery Molenaar

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

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

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

– Julie Finley

I thought, “Oh, well that’ll be fun!”

– Marge McLellan

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 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

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

I’ve been stung a couple of times and it just doesn’t feel good. But as long as I’m in my suit I feel confident and I don’t have a problem with them buzzing around me.

– Mery Molenaar

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

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

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