Jacqueline Freeman owns a biodynamic farm since 2003 where she raises treatment-free honeybees. The farm and their land embody a loving and respectful relationship with Nature. She and her husband hosted a hundred woof interns through 2012. In 2013 they became a mentor farm for the Biodynamics Apprenticeship program and trained a dozen more future farmers. A writer and artist, she has been published in a number of nature magazine. She was hired by the USDA to work with rural beekeepers in the Dominican Republic and regularly speaks at agricultural conferences.
She is author of a groundbreaking book on working respectfully with bees and nature. “SONG OF INCREASE: Listening to the wisdom of honeybees for kinder beekeeping and a better world” is available on her website, SpiritBee.com. In 2017, Jacqueline co-founded a nonprofit, PreservationBeekeeping.com.
I love Jacqueline Freeman. I love her loving, common sense approach. Indeed - why would we put plastic or chemicals in our hives when our entire approach to gardening is "organic?" Does that somehow make us a threat to other bee colonies? I don't buy into the guilt trip from those who are obsessed with repeatedly "checking on things" and in the process, letting out the heat and scent, and/or providing artificial food and comb -- how very detrimentaal to the hive, as Jacqueline poignantly points out. And I liked how she said even the "Lang" method can be a natural way of beekeeping, with some modifications. This is an open-mindedness that we don't always see among beekeepers who seem so adamant about their way being the best. Personally, I have Warre hives. I rarely open them up and focus instead on providing the best forage area with as many medicinal plants for my bees as I can, especially over the dry periods, or "dearth" months when most of the plants are focused on making seed and little nectar is available. I have made mistakes. Some of my hives have not made it for a variety of reasons. So I also appreciated Jacqueline's sensitivity toward letting some hives go. It is, indeed, so very hard to accept that some won't make it, but we need to support and celebrate those that remain strong in the face of adversity. Thank you for making this available.
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