Betterbee's Adopt-a-Hive Staff Program

Our warehouse associate, Michelle, working with the bees.

Here at Betterbee, we take our motto “Beekeepers serving Beekeepers,’ very seriously. In order to maintain the truth behind those words we are constantly developing new programs to train our employees in beekeeping.

In the past, we’ve held demonstrations and even a beekeeping book club. New this summer, employees had the opportunity to "adopt" a hive in the Betterbee teaching bee yard. Staff members took on the role of caring for a hive under the mentorship of our Bee Team!

Explore below to learn what our staff members experience this summer!

What was your favorite part?

Michelle M: Simply the opportunity to work with Greg as my mentor. I am a new beekeeper with about 1 year of experience and being able to confirm or mostly deny that I am doing things adequately has been so helpful and brought me a confidence that I think would take years to gain on my own.

Ashley R: The hands-on knowledge that I gained. By going into the hive with Greg, I was able to see what our customers are seeing when they call to ask questions. As a new employee and a new beekeeper, it was very beneficial to me so that I have the answers to the questions our customers ask every day!

Sydney C: My favorite part of Adopt a Hive was the hands-on learning that it provides. Lectures and talks are fascinating and fun to learn from, however when I can physically do something instead of watching someone else do it I personally gain a better understanding of what I’m doing. My favorite part of beekeeping so far is being able to sit and watch the bees when looking for signs of distress or healthy behavior, very therapeutic and mentally cleansing.

What was the scariest/most intimidating part?

Each staff member created a name tag to label the hive under their care. This one belongs to our pre-pack associate, Keela!

Michelle M: Beekeeping with just nitrile gloves! Sometimes you just have to stick your hands into a mound of bees and trust that if you are careful and delicate you will most likely not get stung.

Ashley R: The scariest part was thinking I was going to do something wrong or not see something correctly and then the hive would die.

Sydney C: The most intimidating part to me was when we discovered that my hive had a serious case of EFB (Europeam Foulbrood). Every visit I made to my hive was a quest to search for more infected brood and slowly but surely my hive healed over time. Greg was a great help in guiding me through every step from how to spot EFB, doing a test and what to do after a positive confirmation (also learned how to do a mite test in this fiasco). Every question I had -no matter how silly- was answered, which made dealing with a sick hive much easier. I’m sure it’s a walk in the park for an experienced Beekeeper but to me it was intimidating.

Will participating in this program lead to (or has it already led to) you having bees of your own?

Michelle M: I already had bees, but it will certainly lead me to work them with more confidence.

Ashley R: Yes! I have already spoken to a good friend who wants to put two hives on his property, I cannot wait until next spring!

Sydney C: When my tenant who is allergic to bees leaves then I might! But for now I love having my own little adopted hive at the Betterbee apiary and would love to continue doing so.

How did participating in the program affect your role as a Betterbee employee? Do you feel better prepared to help customers?

Michelle M: I absolutely feel better equipped to help our customers. From seeing first hand how our beekeepers work and using our products first hand.

Ashley R: It made me so much more confident when talking to customers, when speaking with other employees who have been doing this for much longer than I have been. I can now confidently speak to customers with a much better understanding of what's going on in a hive!

Sydney C: As a woodshop associate, I don’t get to be around the bees often unless we are in the trenches of Bee Days. We create and assemble a lot of beekeeping equipment and I have a vague knowledge of how most of it is used. The program doesn’t only help me with how to be a beekeeper, it also helps be better understand how the products we make are used. With that I can better direct a customer on how to use a product based on actual beekeeping experience. I definitely feel more confident with helping customers in the future and maybe one day I'll even join a team to do a show (not quite there yet but one day). 

Thoughts from the Bee Team

Greg Ralston, Betterbee Beekeeper and Adopt-a-Hive program coordinator: The idea for the Adopt-a-Hive program came about after the employee-led Book Club that Elizabeth started over the winter. Anyone could join Book Club and increase their knowledge about beekeeping. I liked the idea because education is the backbone of any good beekeeper. And I wanted to expand that concept and assist in the transfer from the written word into real world experience. You can read all about beekeeping but having your hands in a hive is a whole different experience.

Ashley working in the yard wearing her beekeeping suit!

This was an opportunity for the employees to gain hands on skills. Maybe they couldn't keep bees where they lived, maybe they were testing the waters before making the financial commitment, or they were just curious. Some students thought that they would never be handling bees. I wanted to take away the mystery of beekeeping and show them that anyone could be a beekeeper.

All the students were enthusiastic and eager to learn. Just about all had no prior experience but took right to it. The most joyous moments came when the students were able to pick out the queen without assistance, that's a normal milestone for any beekeeper. Some were confident enough to mark their own queens (after practicing, of course).

Though I guided them, the program was really student driven. They participated as much as they wanted. And I think some students will continue to manage their hives next year. As a bonus, we were able to get a super of honey that I'll instruct the students on extracting in the near future.

Overall, the program accomplished what I hoped it would, to get hive tools into the hands of new beekeepers.

Anne Frey, Betterbee Head Beekeeper: I saw a lot of interest and excitement in the students. Some would even visit their hive alone in the quiet after work. 

It was really great. The owners and managers worked out a way for employees to use a small amount of work time each time bee attention was needed. It taught them to be efficient and have their task well thought-out so it could be done in a set amount of time.