I’ve dedicated my life to women’s rights and empowerment. I’m devoted to finding and remembering when women held roles of sacred office and the earth was revered as Mother. I research ancient cultures in my spare time, scribbling notes in the margins of every book, searching for what might be hidden in plain sight. So […]

There is poetry in all things if you look for it. Language, and how we speak about a thing, carries incredible power. Language shapes our world view. It shapes our understanding and our relating.

I’ve been in a big renegotiation about my relationship to work. I took this December off from classes and clients because I didn’t really get a maternity leave when my daughter was born. I worked all days and all hours throughout my entire pregnancy.

You may think you know her. You may have read about her behavior. You may have studied her. You may have experienced her habits. She may be nearly predictable. But, she may not behave like you expect. She is a Queen, after all.⠀

How to keep bees:⠀

* Flirt with the sea⠀

Where did it begin? This love affair? This obsession? This reverence? Was it in our prehistoric ancestors, with fire in their hands, climbing the highest of heights to gain your nectar? Was it in the way your honey and pollen aided in the development of our ancient brains?

Hymenoptera: veil-winged. An order of insects including wasps, sawflies and honey bees, but particularly connected, linguistically, to the goddess culture at its ties to the honey bees. Hymen is derived from Greek and means “membrane” or “veil”. It denotes not only the veil within the virginal maiden, but also the veil draped before in innermost sanctum of the temple of the goddess. It also came to represent the veil between the outer world and the hidden inner world of women’s mysteries, both physically and spiritually.

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. ⠀

I’d like to take a moment to talk about why Feminist Beekeeping is a thing at all.

First, let’s understand a few things.
1. We are all struggling with language and the meaning behind words.