Driving down Lake Wheeler road, after you pass Tryon, a student from NCSU would wonder, “This is Raleigh?” From parts of Lake Wheeler road you can see the skyline of downtown, a distant and paradoxical image because there, in the viscera of the city people are sending emails, sipping espresso and working in design studios a-hum with AC units. Meanwhile fields of liquid green paint the rolling hills that add subtle finesse to the farm land, which is accessed by Lake Wheeler road.
For the Raleigh apartment dweller who goes downtown and experiences the rich culture of restaurants, businesses and artists, it’s almost unnerving in a way because these landscapes coexist minutes apart from one another, yet exude totally different lifestyles. It’s not that they aren’t similar, because they are; people in rural Raleigh send emails, sip espresso and probably design a hell of a lot better that I can, so what is it that is so revealing and shocking? I can’t quite explain it but when traveling out there to interview Jen Keller something shifts in my chest and it has to do with that paradox, with those two worlds existing with in miles of one another and being so dramatically different in their vibe.
I inhabit both "worlds" because I’m a designer, a farmer’s daughter and am interested in pursuing things of an agricultural nature in a design oriented vehicle(s, photography, videography and writing). Either way it is soothing driving out to the bee lab and a welcome relief from the headache that is Hillsboro St.
I walk into the lab and it smells sharp of wood and honey. Jen is outside, so that is where I go. She says, “Let’s find some shade,” and we do, beneath some pine trees in the bee yard. She’s quiet but not in a heavy, intimidating way, but quiet in the way that examples her knowledge and patience. I think some call it wisdom-- but again, either way it’s soothing and makes it very easy to carry on a conversation. And this is how it went.
Hey Jen, tell us who you are and what you do.
My name is Jennifer Keller and I am the apiculture technician for Dr. Tarpy’s lab.
What led you to bees? I got my bee start when I did the Peace Corp in Paraguay. I was assigned to forestry and agriculture; however, that didn’t interest the people in Paraguay. But they were interested in bees and honey. They weren’t interested in the forestry project because they weren’t able to plan ahead. “I have a tree already, why do I need another,” was a common response from the farmers.
What types of crops did they raise? All sorts of stuff, corn, cotton, soybeans. They were interested in honey. Honey is made relatively fast and procures a near instant product (the honey) as well as money.
What is the relationship like between the Paraguay farmers and bees? They didn’t understand the relationship between pollination and their crops, bees were just there. Also they didn’t have any crops that needed bees. They just wanted the honey. It was much more common to have feral bees. Basically everybody had bees in their back yard.
What does honey mean to the folks in Paraguay? They were pretty poor and couldn’t spend money on luxuries. They couldn’t buy candy and this was a way to get some sweet… its sugar gotten cheaply. They didn’t eat dessert every night like we can here.
What intrigued you about honeybees and why do you spend your career with them? That’s easy. I knew I wanted to go back to school but I didn’t know what area. They interested me because you never learn it all. You think you know it all and then you learn something knew. It never gets old. So I figured out you could go to school for bees and I went and here I am. I am still not tired of it.
How are the NC farmers different from the Paraguay farmers? Recently, in the past 10 years, the farmers here (in North Carolina) realized the relationship between crops and bees. Before that, the attitude was much the same as it was in South America, but the change happened when the NC feral populations started dying out. Now farmers have to rent out hives to get the same kind of yields that they did before the honey bees started dying out from the wild. You know, the fact that the honey bee has started to decline has brought a lot of awareness to the public. Any time someone hears that I’m working with honeybees they always ask, “So what’s up with the honeybees? Why are they disappearing.”
So why do you think they are disappearing? (looks a bit upset) You know I don’t even want to speculate, but it’s not the cell phones, that’s for sure. And it’s probably not one big issue causing them to disappear but many small ones.
What is the watermelon pollination project about? It is a preliminary study to see how our honey bees are useful in watermelon fields and how many hives are really needed per acre. “Are more hives helpful? Do I need less?” are some questions we have. Our hopes are to show that is enough questions out there to present a proposal for a grant based research project.
What is your most memorable bee moment? When I got the first honey out of my first hives, because you spend the whole season waiting and waiting and we didn’t know what we were doing. We borrowed an extractor but we dripped it all over the floor and ended up skating in honey. Very memorable.
Do you have any bee superstitions? No I’m not a very superstitious person so, no, no special beliefs.
What’s your thoughts on local beekeepers? I think most beekeepers truly love their hobby and they are very eager to share their passion with others, which I always appreciate. You can ask them anything and they are like, “Ooh let me tell you all about it!” They love talking about bees. Also, every beekeeper thinks THEY know the best way to do something. For example, the running joke is that if you ask 10 beekeepers 1 question you get 11 answers. (laughs) It’s kinda true.
Thank you Jen for talking with me.
For the Raleigh apartment dweller who goes downtown and experiences the rich culture of restaurants, businesses and artists, it’s almost unnerving in a way because these landscapes coexist minutes apart from one another, yet exude totally different lifestyles. It’s not that they aren’t similar, because they are; people in rural Raleigh send emails, sip espresso and probably design a hell of a lot better that I can, so what is it that is so revealing and shocking? I can’t quite explain it but when traveling out there to interview Jen Keller something shifts in my chest and it has to do with that paradox, with those two worlds existing with in miles of one another and being so dramatically different in their vibe.
I inhabit both "worlds" because I’m a designer, a farmer’s daughter and am interested in pursuing things of an agricultural nature in a design oriented vehicle(s, photography, videography and writing). Either way it is soothing driving out to the bee lab and a welcome relief from the headache that is Hillsboro St.
I walk into the lab and it smells sharp of wood and honey. Jen is outside, so that is where I go. She says, “Let’s find some shade,” and we do, beneath some pine trees in the bee yard. She’s quiet but not in a heavy, intimidating way, but quiet in the way that examples her knowledge and patience. I think some call it wisdom-- but again, either way it’s soothing and makes it very easy to carry on a conversation. And this is how it went.
Hey Jen, tell us who you are and what you do.
My name is Jennifer Keller and I am the apiculture technician for Dr. Tarpy’s lab.
What led you to bees? I got my bee start when I did the Peace Corp in Paraguay. I was assigned to forestry and agriculture; however, that didn’t interest the people in Paraguay. But they were interested in bees and honey. They weren’t interested in the forestry project because they weren’t able to plan ahead. “I have a tree already, why do I need another,” was a common response from the farmers.
What types of crops did they raise? All sorts of stuff, corn, cotton, soybeans. They were interested in honey. Honey is made relatively fast and procures a near instant product (the honey) as well as money.
What is the relationship like between the Paraguay farmers and bees? They didn’t understand the relationship between pollination and their crops, bees were just there. Also they didn’t have any crops that needed bees. They just wanted the honey. It was much more common to have feral bees. Basically everybody had bees in their back yard.
What does honey mean to the folks in Paraguay? They were pretty poor and couldn’t spend money on luxuries. They couldn’t buy candy and this was a way to get some sweet… its sugar gotten cheaply. They didn’t eat dessert every night like we can here.
What intrigued you about honeybees and why do you spend your career with them? That’s easy. I knew I wanted to go back to school but I didn’t know what area. They interested me because you never learn it all. You think you know it all and then you learn something knew. It never gets old. So I figured out you could go to school for bees and I went and here I am. I am still not tired of it.
How are the NC farmers different from the Paraguay farmers? Recently, in the past 10 years, the farmers here (in North Carolina) realized the relationship between crops and bees. Before that, the attitude was much the same as it was in South America, but the change happened when the NC feral populations started dying out. Now farmers have to rent out hives to get the same kind of yields that they did before the honey bees started dying out from the wild. You know, the fact that the honey bee has started to decline has brought a lot of awareness to the public. Any time someone hears that I’m working with honeybees they always ask, “So what’s up with the honeybees? Why are they disappearing.”
So why do you think they are disappearing? (looks a bit upset) You know I don’t even want to speculate, but it’s not the cell phones, that’s for sure. And it’s probably not one big issue causing them to disappear but many small ones.
What is the watermelon pollination project about? It is a preliminary study to see how our honey bees are useful in watermelon fields and how many hives are really needed per acre. “Are more hives helpful? Do I need less?” are some questions we have. Our hopes are to show that is enough questions out there to present a proposal for a grant based research project.
What is your most memorable bee moment? When I got the first honey out of my first hives, because you spend the whole season waiting and waiting and we didn’t know what we were doing. We borrowed an extractor but we dripped it all over the floor and ended up skating in honey. Very memorable.
Do you have any bee superstitions? No I’m not a very superstitious person so, no, no special beliefs.
What’s your thoughts on local beekeepers? I think most beekeepers truly love their hobby and they are very eager to share their passion with others, which I always appreciate. You can ask them anything and they are like, “Ooh let me tell you all about it!” They love talking about bees. Also, every beekeeper thinks THEY know the best way to do something. For example, the running joke is that if you ask 10 beekeepers 1 question you get 11 answers. (laughs) It’s kinda true.
Thank you Jen for talking with me.
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