An American apiarist has revealed how beekeeping helps her to stay ‘in tune’ with nature.
Jan Day – who heads the D.C. Beekeepers Alliance – claimed: “Keeping bees in your backyard doesn’t directly help the environment.”
Speaking to the Washington Post, Jan explained: “But as a beekeeper, I’ve found that I’m much more in tune with the plants in bloom, changes to local weather and the importance of planting native species for all the other pollinators.”
Jan – who manages hives at four locations around Washington, D.C. – established her company, Second Story Honey, six years ago.
On her website, she explains: “Second Story Honey began in the summer of 2016 when I began selling honey to my neighbours. Harvesting the honey gave me beeswax so I started making candles for fun.”
She adds: “I discovered I was not only good at candle-making, I thoroughly enjoyed the creative experience. One thing led to another and I started Second Story Honey LLC the following year.”
Asked to reveal what she enjoys the most about beekeeping, Jan told the Washington Post: “I love the focus that it forces me to have. When I’m going into a hive, nothing else distracts me. A nuclear explosion could be happening.”
She added: “I’m just so intent on observing and listening and smelling and sensing what’s going on in this little world. Even though I’m exhausted and hot and sweaty, my muscles are aching and I’m dehydrated, I don’t feel any of it when I’m in the hive.”
There are around 100,000 beekeepers – most of them hobbyists – in the country, according to the Washington Post.
A recent survey by Californian gardening services provider Lawn Love identified California, New York and North Dakota as the best places for beekeeping in the United States.
The study – which lists Utah, Arizona and Wyoming at the bottom – considered aspects such as salaries and the number of food markets.
The annual per capita consumption of honey in the United States ranges between 0.9 and 1.4 kilogrammes (one to three pounds).
