Dear Grandpa Roy
… a series of ongoing articles for contemporary beekeepers who are interested in natural beekeeping and learning how to improve their bee stewarding skills. These articles are written by some of the great purveyors of fine bee-ish information. They are free to you (and your bees) and our gift to your continued flowering.
This series is dedicated to my Grandpa, Roy Bateman, an Illinois farmer who raised soybeans and corn, cattle and pigs … and tended his land and his family. He passed in the 1980s, just as Varroa destructor and modern agricultural practices changed the face of beekeeping (and so much else). He would have enjoyed meeting these writers …
Hot Off Holy Bee Press!
SYSTEMS APPROACH TO AGRICULTURE
Learn about an initiative begun in India called Sustainable Yogic Agriculture (SYA); how systemic thought-based meditation applied to all stages of a crop cycle, along with methods of traditional organic farming, are proving beneficial. (Tamasin Ramsay, Ph.D.)
While this article is not about honeybees per se, Holy Bee Press believes that the SYA approach to agriculture is deeply relevant and applicable to good bee stewardship. A growing number of beekeepers, and women in particular, have already been incorporating meditation and other mindfulness practices into their beekeeping. The great Tuscarora elder Ted Williams used to say that all we really have in this life is our Good Thoughts, Good Feelings, Good Words and Good Deeds. We wish you Good Thoughts (and all the rest) in your relationship with the bees … and all life. Please contact us at debra@holybeepress.com and let us hear about your practices with the bees that you are discovering to be beneficial to their well-being.
We are deeply grateful to the author, Tamasin Ramsay, and also to LEISA India for kindly granting us permission to republish this article from the magazine: LEISA India (December 2012, Volume 14 no. 4).
And please also enjoy this bounty …
Understanding Varroa so you can select for better, less-virulent mites and better-adapted bees.
(Kefyn M. Catley, Ph.D.) Now translated into Dutch/Flemish! Thank you Luc Pintens!
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(Carl Chesick, President of The Center for Honeybee Research)
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We hope you enjoy these articles. Please feel free to share them with anyone under the sun, moon and stars that might be interested. We are currently in the process of translating these articles into Italian, French and Spanish and are seeking translators in Polish, Turkish, Portuguese and other languages … all offered to accommodate the growing interest expressed by the worldwide bee community. We are at your service. And stay tuned for more articles coming along from other great, bright women and men writers from around our fine bee world.
If you feel moved to express your thanks for this series, please consider making a donation to The Center for Honeybee Research, a wonderful non-profit that is dedicated to finding and promoting answers to create a world safe for bees. And if you would like to express your appreciation to the authors, you can post a comment on this website and we will direct it to the writer.
Blessed be. Blessed bees.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
This strums at the core of my heart and I am there, they are here, with you.
Joan, I love being kept-by-my-bees, same time as you with yours … blessings
Oh Debra, I’m sitting here weeping. What a beautiful testament to your grandpa and grandma. I’m sure I could sit beside you on that train and keep on going forever. You are amazing. Chi
Chiwa, So glad you “met” my grandparents (and in some fashion, they – you). I know they would have loved celebrating spring under your crab apple tree, next to your bees … blessings
What a dear,dear article!!!!
Thank you for such a jewel.
Rick
Ricky, thank you and back atcha …
Debra, the work you are doing is such a wonderful contribution to the bee world!
Thank you so much, Julie. I thank you, the bees thank you …
beautiful! would love to learn more about Great Grandpa Roy and Grandma Ruth and your remembrances. this may or may not be the space. particularly curious about his reference to civil rights
Julie, it is so wonderful to hear from you. I’ll respond to your email shortly. Looking forward to communing … blessings, Debra
Hi there, Debra! What a beautiful letter and an innovative way to begin a blog! I think Roy and Ruth would be proud.
Warmly,
t
Tammy, thank you so much. It is always lovely to hear from your bee-ish self.
That was a heartwarming love letter.
Thanks for sharing your memories as well as your eloquent style of writing.
Shiner, thanks so much. I appreciate you so much. How are your bees?
I’ve read this twice now, spaced apart, and I love it more & more! What a bee-you-ti-full testament to your deep heart, your beloved bees and your beloved grandparents, Debra!
Thank you so much, Linda-ji … I wish Roy and Ruth could have met you (and vica versa) … you are all cut from the same cloth. xox
Debra,
Thank you so much for your beautiful writing, as well as your lovely spirit. I think I’m falling in love with beekeeping more and more each day. Sadly, I lost the hive this January that was from the Minnesota Hygienic queen that I won at the Spartanburg meeting this past fall. Still unsure of the reason. But I’m up to nine hives now – one from a swarm that I caught.
Thank you for all the work that you do for the honeybee and for being such an inspiration to so many.
Blessings!
Thank you so very much, Natalie. I appreciate it. I completely understand your love journey with these precious winged souls. And I am so sorry about the hive you lost. It is like a death in the family. And I am glad you have nine other hives … wow. And isn’t catching a swarm one of the great miracles? (And really, not that hard at all.) So happy to be on this path-of-bee with you … blessings!