A lovely woman asked if I might be interested in hiring her as a part time beekeeper here at wheaton labs.
I attempted to answer her question by fishing for what kind of job she has in mind. With the wheaton eco scale in mind I replied:
I think a level 2 bee person will be paid to care for our current bees
and will set up lots of stuff to capture swarms and prepare to expand
our bee stuff in 20 different ways. Including thinking of cool stuff
so all of our bee stuff will be first class. This would include
figuring out what we should gather for materials. Everything done
should be with a thought toward creating systems that will do fine if three
years pass and nobody does anything.
I think a level 7 bee person will do everything that a level 2 bee
person will do, but will not need to be paid. Rather, they will have
a collection of business plans. Maybe they create bee DVDs. Maybe they host a gathering of
select bee people (so, like the rocket mass heater innovators event, but
for bee people). A series of bee classes - beginner to advanced.
Developing a collection of PEP1 stuff for bees, solitary bees and
native pollinators. Innovations like a window in a lang hive. A
level 7 bee person will tell me how their presence on my land is gonna
make both us a fair bit of coin - maybe propose some collaborative business plans. I think a level 7 bee person will
come up with "super honey: miles from any sprays plus less than one
colony per 10 acres and oceans of polyculture nectar." A full list of
reasons why this honey is better than all other honey. SETTING the
bar for the best honey in the world.
I feel like a level 2 person will need a lot of guidance from me - and I will be teaching them.
A level 7 person will need no guidance from me and they will be teaching me!