Beekeeping

About this Collection

This collection represents a harmonious confluence of two of my passions: photography and beekeeping. The inception of my beekeeping stemmed from a requirement in my introductory videography course at Berkeley High School. Tasked with creating a documentary, I embarked on a journey of exploration and discovery, and beekeeping emerged as a captivating subject. The experience was engaging and gratifying, and it led me to take up beekeeping as a personal hobby. This collection serves as a testament to the joy and fulfillment that can be derived from the symbiosis of art and nature.

Beekeeper BLVD.

As we began beekeeping, we put our first hive in our driveway (much to our mom's dismay) and have since been expanding the number of hives there. In the beginning, there were only a couple; now there are anywhere from 10 to 15, depending on the season. By this point, my mom thought it would be appropriate to put up a sign indicating that this is the official Beekeeper Boulevard.

People will regularly stop and look at all of the hives, if any of us are out in the yard we will gladly give them a tour and even a little jar of honey!

Dealers Car

This car belongs to Diego Salgues, one of my childhood friends. This car is an old used car that he snagged for $3,000 from a drug dealer. It came with a big subwoofer system in the trunk (since removed), and a jar of Kush stuffed under the seat, and has become a staple in our driveway whenever there are beekeeping activities.  Funnily enough, the cost of repairs has been higher than the cost of the car, although for such a relic, it may be worth it.

His dad drives it more than he does at this point, bringing it over to do beekeeping with us at the BLVD. I always enjoy seeing the car, it feels like a stark contrast with beekeeping, being a very old and LA-esque car contrasted by bright hives and bees buzzing around.

Fun facts

It is not every day that you get to see eye to eye with bees, see how delicate and colorful these girls are. This picture always reminds me how delicate and complex bees truly are.
Bees are unique creatures (actually a non-native species), and have become a staple for agriculture throughout the U.S., being responsible for the production of 1/3 of all food produced.

Bees are smarter than  people give them credit for, they are able to recognize the difference of shape and colors for their specific hive, but also are not hostile with each other, meaning if they end up at the wrong hive they will be accepted into it

Swarm-catchers

During the peak of COVID, I was really able to experience the basics of swarm catching. Most swarms are self-reported; usually, if you call animal control because you see a ball of bees, as shown below, they will forward the report to a local beekeeping group, where someone (like me) will be able to go out and catch them.

Swarms happen when the hive deems the current location unsuitable (usually they need more space), and they will all gorge themselves on as much honey as is in the hive and all follow the queen to try and find a new place. When this happens, the bees become incredibly docile and form a ball around the queen. You can easily touch the bees without being stung as they try to stay as close to the queen as possible.

100 pounds of honey

Usually, about half of your hives die during a season, making it harder for hobby beekeepers to get a lot of honey during a season. Not that this statistic is incorrect, but the location geographically makes a huge difference on seasonal honey flow. After our second year, we had over 100 pounds of honey sitting in the middle of our kitchen. It turns out that it is harder than expected to either use it or give it away, although we are trying our very best.

Whenever we have friends, guests, or people interested in the hives over, we always offer them up a jar (or encourage them to ring their own) in order to get rid of the currently over 100 pounds of honey, which is way too much for a single family to ever need.