Janie's Beekeeping Lesson 1 with Wilbur Severn

"You'll be happy to know that this variety of bees, not one of them will bite you," says Wilbur Severn, the renowned beekeeper and honey-seller located in Chester, OK. "But watch out for those stingers!!"

Thus begins my first hands-on lesson in beekeeping. "They're peaceful, really. They won't sting you unless you give them a reason to."


I still felt more comfortable once dressed in typical beekeeper uniform: white jackets with mesh-like face shields. It helped me stay (somewhat) calm when the bees started swarming all around.

We opened up one of the "hives" so I could have a peek inside. Racks of wax honeycomb filled with honey and larvae in all stages. You always want to locate the queen and make sure she's producing good eggs, not too many drones.

Every colony has one queen bee. She lays up to 1,500 eggs a day, more than her body weight. Each spring, the hive will grown in population up to 50 to 60 thousand bees. They travel up to three miles to collect pollen. The result: 100% pure, raw local honey, which tastes amazing.

My second beekeeping lesson is in a couple of weeks, when it will be time to harvest the honey. The main piece of advice resonating in my mind: "Be sure not to get a bee up your pants-- Now that's something you really don't want to experience!"