Hi, my name is Ariella. I’m a beekeeper. It’s not a hobby. I don’t make my money from honey. I don’t make my money from carting bees around the country on semi trucks for mass pollination events. I only have a few hives. But beekeeping is part of my profession. I am a teacher of beekeeping plus some other real cool shit. It’s part of the business I run, because I’m also a boss. It’s not cute. Or sweet. Or adorable. I wear skirts. This is also not cute. Not sweet. Or adorable. But sometimes I am cute, sweet, and adorable. Running a business is not. That’s the difference. So today I want to raise a glass to all the bee business boss ladies out there who aren’t playing by the rules. ⠀

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You might be tough as nails, dressed in overalls, selling honey at the local farmers market. You might be getting your nails done and discussing whether or not to expand your apiary with your bestie. You might be biking between hives in some metropolis, joyful and determined. You might be establishing a honey bee sanctuary while raising kids and writing your dissertation. You might be cute too. You might wear skirts. You might not. You might be fierce. You might be butch. You might be ethereal. You might be any multitude of multidimensional magnificence and also happen to run your own business DOING WHAT YOU LOVE. One thing I’ll say about running a business: it’s never cute. You’re never a busy little bee. You’re a Queen. Know the difference. Own the difference. You work hard. For every hour in a sun dappled field of apple blossoms, there are 10 hours of bookkeeping, computer screens, tough choices, late nights, early mornings, long schleps, invoices, marketing, bullet journals, and careful investments of your precious time, money and energy. You’re also doing this because you fell in love. Never forget it. You’re here for the winged ones. You made a place for yourself where the industry said there was none. You said, “See that language being spoken over there? The one filled with the hum of 60,000 sisters? That’s my language, so please, let’s go have a listen, or kindly get out of my way.”