Interview with Aspiring Bee Keeper Dana Cheng

Q: Why honey bees?

A: Well, honey bees produce honey, wasps don’t have the same structure, and really I like a lot of species, but none as much as bees.

Q: What about apiaries appeals to you most?

A: I enjoyed studying the different kind of cells, the very intricate, structured and detailed work that the bees put into the hive.

Q: Tell me something I don’t know that you think is important about the current state of the Bee keeping industry.

A: Many bees are in trouble because of mostly pesticide use in agriculture and I think this important because we need bees and other pollinators alive so we can have food to eat, and without bees all the people will struggle to have enough crops.

Q: When did you begin to wonder about keeping bees? Tell me about your journey to this point.

A: I have loved bees for a very long time. I first loved bumble bees because they are fluffy when I was little, and then I learned about their complex systems and the way they dance and communicate. I find their ways of using electromagnetic fields to track and communicate interesting. Now I enjoy watching them work, and I am studying them and their vibrations with pollination.

Q: I hear you are saving your babysitting money to purchase your first hives. Tell me more.

A: Yes, I have a small nest egg savings started and some friends of my mom encouraged me to do a fundraiser to help me get more funding. Here is the link. FlowHive Fundraiser for Dana

Q: Where are you getting education about apiary science? What is the best tidbit you would like to share with us?

A: I am getting a free introductory course online from perfectbee.com that consists of 100+ courses to teach me the basics before I meet with a beekeeper to learn some hands on training and before I purchase my hives next year. One tidbit I find fascinating is that male bees, also known as drones, are practically useless to the hive other than as mates to the queen. After they mate, they lose their reproductive organs which makes them die!

Q: Why are pollinators important to you?

A: I love food a lot. Without the bees we won’t have food. Every time I see them out in my families garden I get excited. I know we have to have an ecosystem that supports pollinators to have them live here.

Q: What will you do with your bees products once you have your hives going?

A: I’d like to sell the honey and the wax in wax blocks online and at farmers markets with my mom.

Q: Anything else you want to share with us today about these interesting insects you think the public should know?

A: There are breeds of different honey bees and there temperaments very based on the breed. All bees are imports- there are no native honey bees in the United States. Raw honey has minerals and helps with allergies if you eat honey that is harvested from the ecoregion you live in.

Q: Thank you for chatting with me! I wish you success with your fundraiser and your bee hives!