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By Root 602 0

back at the factory, the perpetual teapot was boiling. I could not resist having a cup of the locally grown green tea and drizzling it with my newly purchased honey. It was golden amber with a slight orange tinge, and it fell off the spoon in a thick spin. The flavor was as scrumptious as Mr. B’s honey, but in a different way. It carried different tasting notes that I did not yet have the vocabulary to explain. In my amateur opinion, it was exquisite and a treasure to be savored. Million-flower honey was my second jar of “pure” honey. I had officially begun my quest of collecting and hoarding honeys. I also learned something else in China: I learned that I was ready to become a beekeeper.

CHAPTER 2

Becoming a Beekeeper

The decision to start my own beehives was an unbelievably liberating moment. With the taste of Chinese honey still on my tongue, I felt courageous and empowered to be embarking on a new hobby as offbeat as beekeeping. Friends and family would certainly think I had lost my mind, and my neighbors would think I was joking. But I didn’t care. I had tasted the divine honey, and I was hooked. My little red cottage on the outskirts of Weston craved a romantic-style garden where my honeybees would thrive. My garden would be a banquet of nectar and pollen, and my own honeybees would visit the fauvist flower beds to pollinate my flowers and vegetables. I relished the idea of working outside with the bees, having dirt under my fingernails, and bonding with nature. The seductive smell of beeswax would always scent the yard. And, of course, there would be honey everywhere, every day.

Before I dove into my new hobby completely, Mr. B urged me to attend a few bee meetings of a local beekeepers club to learn more. “Bee clubs?” I thought. “Is there really such a thing?” Indeed, there is. It turns out that beekeepers, like the bees they keep, are extremely social creatures. The Back Yard Beekeepers Association is one of many hobbyist beekeeping clubs in the state of Connecticut. There are more than 350 members in the BYBA (as it is known locally), all of whom keep and love honeybees and, of course, honey. Club members are dedicated to volunteering their time and expertise to promote this ancient craft by offering many outstanding educational opportunities for those who want to begin keeping honeybees or just wish learn more about these fascinating creatures. I felt the club members’ warmth and electrifying enthusiasm the minute I walked into the church hall where the meeting was held.

I was greeted at the door by an adorable beekeeping couple selling tickets for their monthly bee raffle. They were both wearing bee T-shirts; the gentleman wore a cap adorned with dozens of bee pins, and bee earrings dangled from the woman’s ears. Welcoming their newest attendee, they offered me flyers about the evening’s events and invited me to purchase a raffle ticket. The humble table beside them held the prize: an odd piece of bee equipment. Although I had no idea what it was or how it worked, I paid for a chance to win it. With my lucky ticket in hand, I entered into the hall.

Inside, the hall was buzzing with beekeepers. Along one side of the room was a table with food, and another table was set up with the official beekeeping library and book sale. There were books, movies, and pamphlets, and a librarian was signing out these materials to interested borrowers. I walked the length of the table, gazing at the many books—new and old, serious and lighthearted. The titles included How to Plant a Bee Garden, Beekeeping for Fun and Profit, and Biology of Honeybees, and the topics ranged from bee rearing to bee gardening to cooking with honey. I was beginning to realize that the topic of beekeeping stretched far and wide. I was especially attracted to the older books with artistic etchings of bees and historic photographs of primitive beehives.

I spied a beginner’s book for beekeepers; it seemed accessible and uncomplicated, and deciding I would need all the help I could get, I grabbed it. After checking out my new book, I headed over