Me and the bees

I couldn’t stop thinking about bees. In the news I’d read story after story about bees disappearing in the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. Knowing the implications that had on the environment and our food supply, I decided I wanted to learn more about bees so I could possibly help out when I got home. I also needed a break from Ifugao.

So I went back to the Bohol Bee Farm with Vicky, the owner’s, permission, and I designed a volunteer project. I decided to write a booklet about bees that people could purchase from the bee farm. It would generate income for the bee farm and provide some extra knowledge for the bee-curious to read at home. I researched every day, read about three small books on bees, and gleaned a ton of info from the internet. I spent hours in Vicky’s little office on a slow computer with horrible internet access. Because the sun shined on it all day, the room was the hottest on the farm so I had to turn on the little air-conditioning unit. The room smelled of her five dogs that lay around listless in the afternoon or snuggled up against my feet.

Vicky’s staff treated me like a queen (i.e. they served me squash muffins and lemon grass tea in the afternoons). Inspired by my research, I started eating lots of bee pollen and honey. In the evenings, I’d swim out in the ocean or do laps in the small pool. Sometimes I’d hang out with Vicky and her husband, or I’d chat with the staff. I also wrote and reflected a lot on my last four months in the Philippines.

Eva, Me, and Vicky

My friend Eva showed up for the last few days of my time there. We spent two solid days re-reading and editing the book. At one point, I got so damn sick of bees I wanted to toss the book into a wall. No one should have to learn about bees this way. We laughed about how much we hated bees by the end of the whole thing. But we were really proud of the final product and researched the printing. We figured out a way to print it so it made a profit for Vicky.

The day before I left, as Eva and I put the last painstaking touches on the book, Vicky came to talk to us about it. Apparently what she really wanted was a book about her journey with the bee farm, not a book about bees. I sat there at the desk, my mouth open. I couldn’t believe she was telling us this after 10 days of hard work. And it was too expensive, she said (which it wasn’t—any foreigner would have bought it). Eva and I finished the book anyway, and Eva promised that if nothing else she’d print up a copy for the two of us. She stayed behind an extra two days but still wasn’t able to convince Vicky to print the thing. After all that work! I'm still kind of bummed about the whole thing, though I'm also grateful for her hospitality and kindness.

I’m also not going to let her decision stop my personal bee movement.
So...with that, I offer you, dear reader, The Bee Book. (Drumroll please…)

Download file

Ta da!!!

Download it for free. Print it up. Share it with friends. Learn about bees so we can understand how important they are for our planet and help save them. Become a beekeeper. As my friend Luke says, “It'll be the best $300 you'll ever spent on 50,000 pets that feed you, instead of the opposite.”

Yay bees! Pass the good bee-lovin’ on!

p.s. If you have problems downloading the file, let me know and I'll email it to you.