I added a new menu section to my website this morning.
Mentorship
This page has been hidden away for a while now.
Recently I have been getting a slew of emails and phone calls from beekeepers who
need help deciphering why their bees died. Seeking guidance for this spring.
So as beekeeping 101 classes and package sales are starting to be advertised, I thought that now would be a good time to launch my mentorship program for first and second year beekeepers. So here it is!
Beekeeping Mentorship for Northern Colorado!
Why now?
At the end of 2024 I realized I had been waiting for permission to officially offer mentoring to fellow beekeepers and charge for it. Permission from whom I was waiting for was myself.
Charging for my experience and knowledge is intimidating.
Often times I would say not to worry about valuing my time and to consider my words of wisdom as good karma for the future.
Me, not honoring my own time and financial investment into my education and experiences. Thus causing me burn out from doing too much and not taking time to recharge myself.
"You must first value yourself." -Unknown
I spent the last 4 months running at full speed.
Starting a new job on September 1st as Colorado's Apiary Specialist, where I surveyed 100's of beehives around Colorado for the National Honey Bee Survey. Adding thousands of miles to my Jeep, looking at millions of bees, and sending out hundreds of emails and text messages to coordinate with
beekeepers around Colorado. I ended up surveying 14 apiaries and making a lot of new connections in the beekeeping world.
Once that position contract came to a close October 30th, I returned everything to the office and got ready to leave for a first-of-its-kind workshop hosted by the Apiary Inspectors of Americas at Auburn University.
I flew out to Atlanta and drove to Alabama the first week of November and spent my time learning about Tropilaelaps M. and how to identify and sample for them, as well as meeting researchers and apiary inspectors from all over the United States, China, Canada, and Guam.
Each day had break out sessions with small groups to talk about in depth topics like possible ways of introduction, pollination route, quarantine area designation and so on. It was an amazing workshop that I am grateful to have attended. Tropi are not here yet! But we will be well prepared for when they arrive. Hopefully not anytime soon though.
When I came home it was time to celebrate my oldest daughter's birthday and start writing a speech to run for an advisor position on my state beekeeping board in a weeks time.
Mid November I served as one of the honey judges at the Colorado State Beekeepers Annual Fall meeting in Berthoud, Co. I was elected into an advisor position to the board that day as well. I'm looking forward to helping plan events and being an extra set of eyes and ears to the board and beekeepers of Colorado.
A week later I gave a small presentation to the Colorado State Master Beekeeping Journeyman candidates for their fall bee camp at CU Boulder in The Ramsey Bee Lab. I spoke about what I learned from Apiary Inspectors of America, United States Department of Agriculture, and Animal Plant Health Inspection Services while I was at the Auburn Bee Lab's Tropi Workshop.
I was also writing a monthly (4-part series) for the Colorado State Beekeepers Associations newsletter about my position at the department of agriculture. Each month I wrote about different parts of the national honey bee survey that I was doing. I wrote in detail about what each sample was looking for and how I went about sampling for the survey.
Early December brought exciting news of receiving a grant that I had applied for in October from The OneHive Foundation, to attend Judy Wu Smarts Policy training at the American Beekeeping Federation Conference the first full week of January 2025. Requiring me to book my trip ASAP and prepare my family and animals for me to be gone for 8 days.
Mid December was my husbands birthday and finals for my kids, along with the normal stress of the holidays, I started to bottom out. I couldn't wait for my kids to be on break and Christmas to be over, so we could celebrate surviving 2024 and start planning my youngest daughters birthday party for the first week of January 2025. Yes, my entire family has birthdays November, December, and January.
Why not have everything all at once!?!?!? hahaha! New years brought some rest to our household that hadn't been around since summer break.
The last quarter of 2024 was nonstop for me!
Going from one item on the list of "To Do's" to the next.
Attempting to keep up on my master beekeeping studies and hold it all together as a mom, wife, small business owner, swarm catcher, 4H project leader and mentor.
This is after a full summer of beekeeping, camping, hop farming, 4H projects, and running around with my kids before they adult and launch this coming summer with jobs.
I still do not understand when to say "when."
Not realizing when I stop singing, dancing, and laughing, that I need to take a pause.
No phone, no article writing, no planning, no talking!
My "pause" is hiking and foraging in the mountains.
Walking aimlessly through the woods looking for mushrooms and treasures is my happy place.
When I don't get to go to the mountains to recharge myself.
My battery runs out.
But the snow moves into these high-altitude areas in early September.
Covering up my favorite places with feet of snow, not to be seen again until next summer.
Winter is a challenging season for me.
If only I could rest like the places I forage and hike through.
Bursting awake, feeling ready to shine like the Columbines of the Rockies in June.
After hitting burnout at the end of December 2024, I needed some rest and time away.
My "rest" this time of year came from spending the first full week of January at the American Beekeeping Federations annual conference in Reno, Nevada. Though I spent the first three days at the annual Apiary Inspectors of America meeting and doing my first poster session. Then helping at the American Beekeepers Research Conference and listening to in depth lectures about bee research, my bee researcher brain is filled to the brim!
For 8 days, no one asked me any questions or asked me to do something for them. I didn't have two sets of dog eyes staring at me all day,
waiting for me to toss the ball, go for a walk, or feed them.
I wasn't getting any random text questions about bees.
I didn't have a family to cook for or clean up after.
It was restful in an unexpected way.
Hindsight is 20/20
Sometimes you don't realize how much you are doing until you step away and come back with a new perspective and appreciation for what you can do and what you have in life.
I feel rested and aligned to step into a new chapter or "Era" as Taylor Swift puts it.
One that I honor what I can do a lot more, and one that is lived with more intention, gratitude, and grace.
It is an era in which I feel comfortable charging for my time and experience. I have goals in life that require time and money. I need to honor that, too. Because my dream cabin in the woods where I can go to recharge myself, in order to give to others won't be built for free.
So if you are looking for a down-to-earth, easy-going, experienced, and knowledgeable beekeeper to help you through your first year and second, contact me.
I am excited to offer mentorship program to help others be successful and enjoy keeping bees in
Colorado like I do.
"The journey to truly superior performance is neither for the faint of heart nor for the impatient. The development of genuine expertise requires struggle, sacrifice, and honest, often painful self-assessment. There are no shortcuts.
Bee well, Shelli
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