Honey bees are social insects and one of the best lessons from the hive is how a community can work together for the good of the community. I think humans could learn a lot from honey bees. So in the spirit of the bees, this page is dedicated to some of the many bee buddies I’ve had over the years who have influenced and supported my beekeeping efforts. I try to give them credit in my posts as well.
Note: I’m adding folks as I get their pictures, so check back to see more of the amazing, giving people in my life.
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Kelly Eugene Brown, Jr.
Eugene is one of the NCSBA regional directors for the mountain region, is the current president of the Surry County Beekeepers, and has been a good friend and bee buddy. He was also willing to let me turn him into a drone for a presentation we did for the girl scouts.
Bobby Byrd
Bobby is new to beekeeping this year but is one of the most dedicated new beekeepers I've met in a long time. He doesn't have his own bees (yet) but you'll often see him in my bee yard helping me.
Aubrey Cupit
Aubrey owns Gate City Harvest Farm where my hives live these days. He stays actively involved with making sure the bees have good forage and are safe and healthy. He shows up in many of my videos.
Kym Goins
Kym is a second year beekeeper and takes the most amazing photos as well as writes the most beautiful prose. The bee on the flower that I use in the website header is one of Kym's pictures.
Tay Halas
In addition to being an architect and a permaculture designer, Tay is also learning about beekeeping. Tay took the Guilford County Beekeepers bee school a few years ago, helped with the permaculture class, and comes out to the bee yard with me when she can.
Dr. Charlie Headington
Charlie keeps a hive of bees in his yard and often includes beekeeping in his permaculture discussions. I owe much to Charlie for his knowledge of permaculture and especially his tip about using nematodes to control hive beetles.
Eliza Hudson
Eliza is an instructor in the garden program at the GSO Montessori School. She manages the bee hives at the school and is teaching a group of 5th graders about beekeeping. We get to hang out in the bees either at the GMS or in my bee yard.
Jenny Kimmel
Jenny has spent the last 10 years teaching kids about plants and nature at the Greensboro Montessori School. She's also currently teaching the permaculture design class with Alyssa.
Kelly Kivett
Kelly is a new beekeeper and also an elementary school teacher. She recently brought her daughter to the bee yard and in trying to point out the queen on a frame of bees used the expression, "She moves like she owns the place," which explains perfectly how the queen moves.
Paul L. Madren, Jr.
Paul is one of 6 Master Craftsman Beekeepers in NC. He's always available to answer my questions and we've had many a spirited conversation over the years.
Alyssa McKim
Alyssa has a permaculture design certificate and is currently teaching a design course locally with Jenny.
David Mudd
David is another of the permaculture designers who is learning about beekeeping.
Jeanne Price
In 100 years of operation, the NCSBA has had only 1 woman president. That was Jeanne.
Neise Price
I met Neise when I was helping with the Surry Bee School and she was taking the course. She let me work bees with her and in the process, gave me some good ideas about things I should keep in my bag. She's creative and practical and just a whole lot of fun!
Joanna Radford
Joanna is one of the Surry County Extension agents and a huge advocate to beekeeping. Joanna started the bee buddy program at Surry County and then took it to the NCSBA conferences where there have been hundreds of kids going through the program. I got to help with the first full day program and had a great time and learned a lot of fun exercises to do with kids to teach them about bees.
Dr. Doug Vinson
Doug is a semi-retired dentist living in Catawba County. He is Vice-President of the Catawba Beekeepers, was a NCSBA Regional Director for the Mountain Region for 4 years, and is currently the 2nd Vice-President for NCSBA. I got to know Doug when I was doing work with NCSBA and have kept in touch with him since then. He always has great new ideas to share and I've gotten some great queen rearing tips from him.
Julian Wooten
Julian is another past president of NCSBA, was the beekeeper responsible for caring for and training others for the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," and has always been happy to talk bees with me.