My Story

My introduction to beekeeping started in Honduras. I was there as a part of a doctors without borders program. During my stay, I met a beekeeper, Thomas Hebert. He asked me if I would be interested in coming out to the beehives with him. Curious, I said, “yes”.

Before we had gotten out there, he had me completely suit up with extra safety measures. “These are Africanized bees,” he explained, “they’re much more aggressive than the average honeybee.” Completely garbed, I followed Thomas out to the hives, trudging our way through rough terrain.

On our way, we passed the carcass of a dead horse. Later we found out that the horse had gotten too close to the hives. Angered, the Africanized bees attacked the horse, killing it. Needless to say, as I approached the hives, I was nervous. What would these killer bees do?

As we approached, they came to greet us, stinger first! I could feel them cling onto the bee suit trying to pierce through it wherever they could. A few were successful but my suit protected me.

We continued our way to the hives. Thomas broke the top open on one, proceeding to take the frames out despite the residents angry protests. He taught me about how to check if a frame is ready to be pulled or if it needed more time. He also taught me how to extract the honey and its wonderful health benefits. I fell in love with honeybees and the hard work of beekeeping.

Thomas Hebert has since passed. However, his passion for beekeeping lives on. Gee Dee Bees carries on that passion. Teaching beekeeping to the next generation. My team and I work to keep honey bees around so that many more generations can enjoy the fruits of their labor.