Conversations with Beekeepers: Lori Hawkins
by Billie Hinton
LORI HAWKINS
My day job is as a physical therapist and my weekend/spare time job is exploring as much as I can about this wonderfully interesting world God has provided. A few things that I spend some time in are church activities, beekeeping, backpacking, biking, kayaking, planting for the bees, bee club activities.
How long have you been keeping bees?
I started keeping bees or they started keeping me in 2005.
Tell me about what drew you to the idea of beekeeping?
One small part of The Golden leaf award from the tobacco settlement was directed toward giving colonies of bees away to aspiring beekeepers. They talked about how the bees were in trouble. It got the wheels turning, so I bought Beekeeping for dummies. I wasn’t able to get one of their hives but became interested enough to start beekeeping.
Describe the day you got your first package, nuc, or full hive.
I was so hyped up about getting bees. I packed our 2 young kids up in the van and traveled to Mebane to pick up my first package. I stepped out of the car and promptly got stung. Not wanting to alarm the kids, I put the bees in the back of the van and took off for home. I had been initiated.
Do you name your queens and/or colonies? If so, share the names and how you came up with them.
I don’t name my queens other than Golden beauty or Black beauty. My hives are numbered to help me keep track of who is who as I may be moving them or combining.
Tell me about your current hives, including hive style and apiary set-up.
I confess that I have trouble letting a beautiful, big queen cell go to waste, so presently I am up to 16 hives. A group of us are considering starting a support group for bee hoarders. 🙂 I have 10 frame and 8 frame colonies, horizontal hives, a top bar and assorted nucs.
What is your favorite thing about keeping bees?
The bees are always teaching me something and keeping me humble.
How would you describe your beekeeping philosophy?
Over time, I have become more of a minimalist in manipulating the bees/frames. I consider myself more support staff with the understanding that the bees have the last word.
Tell me your favorite beekeeping story.
One day my husband called me out of the shop to inform me the goats were keeping the bees. I went out there to find one of the goats running from one of my hives that he had knocked over. It looked surreal, but then I realized the bees were chasing the goat and he was running for my husband. Within a couple of seconds, my husband and the goat were running but not quite fast enough. Horror turned to laughter. Fortunately, the queen was not killed, and the hive survived.
What was your experience with bees as a child? Any memories that come to you as you think about it?
No real memories come to mind.
Is there a beekeeper or mentor who has inspired you on your beekeeping journey? Feel free to share anecdotes and/or appreciation.
John Strickland and Pat Weisbrodt have been so generous with sharing their wisdom. Interestingly, each has their own style or philosophy of keeping bees which showed me you can ask 2 beekeepers a question and get different but workable answers. John and Pat have given many hours of their time to promoting beekeeping and helping aspiring beekeepers. I am in deep gratitude!
I also have a deep respect and desire to know an ounce of what Don Hopkins knows about bees. His quiet and methodical approach can only be fully appreciated by watching and talking to him.
Do you have goals for yourself as a beekeeper that you’d like to share?
I would like to see and help promote bees that are able to take care of these devil mites without the use of pesticides. Learn and practice more wild beekeeping techniques.
Any advice for a brand new beekeeper?
Beekeeping is a journey much like parenting. No 2 colonies are the same and you will never know all there is to know. Remember the bees were able to take care of themselves long before we humans showed up, so try to listen and learn what it is they need, not necessarily what we need. Ask questions and keep learning.
