What Bee Wild Brings to Our
Urban Beekeeping Classes

Hello! QueenBee here! John Wright and I had a fabulous conversation about the value of studying urban beekeeping with Bee Wild. He asked me to write a couple of posts to share what he said.

Three Generations of Beekeepers

Did you know that John Wright is the third generation of his family to work in the Wright’s beekeeping business? The Bee Farm was first started by John’s Grandfather, who gave John’s father his first ten colonies in 1962. From then on he kept bees in his backyard and at their family cabin on Lake Burton to take advantage of the Sourwood Honey flow.

When his Grandfather passed away in 1977, John’s dad inherited all the beekeeping equipment and decided to build a small “honey house” behind the house John grew up in on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. A few years later, John’s dad decided to go into the honey business full-time, quadrupling the size of the honey house and starting what became the love of his and John’s life.

John’s Dad Is a Recognized Beekeeping Expert

John’s dad continued his beekeeping education through high school as well as college while earning his degree in forestry, learning every aspect of beekeeping and literally became his granddad’s shadow. He shares this knowledge to this day, teaching beekeeping classes and being a key resource in local University entomology studies on projects researching colony stressors, such as mites which may lead to “Colony Collapse Disorder”, a serious threat to the bee population nationwide.

Study Beekeeping with an Expert

Have you ever had the experience of going to a class with a recognized expert and then a few weeks later one of your classmates is teaching that same class, having plagiarized the material from the expert? Your classmate might be able to copy the paperwork and parrot the expert’s word. But, he/she has no experience or understanding to answer a variety of questions or guarantee the work taught. That’s why studying with an expert in the field is so important. The same thing is true about beekeeping classes.

That’s why John  is so excited about the beekeeping classes we offer. Bee Wild brings an arc of 80 years of experience in beekeeping to the table. When John’s Grandfather first started beekeeping, environmental pollution was almost non-existent. As his father took over the business, the bee’s environment became less friendly to the point that today beekeepers have to deal with a myriad of stressors. Our beekeeping instructor, Chris (owner of Rescue Bee Sanctuary) really picked John’s dad’s brain when he and John were creating our class curriculum.  We feel it’s so important to continue this “arc of knowledge” to new beekeepers, like you, so they will be successful as beekeepers.

Beekeeping Class Information

Our next beekeeping class is on Saturday, May 18. We have very few spots left. So, if you are interested in studying beekeeping with Bee Wild, click here for more information.