Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Jana Kinsman, 31, the bicycling beekeeper.
After that, that’s when I started Bike a Bee. We place beehives in community gardens on the south side. We place the hives in spring, and then we take care of them throughout the year. We own all the equipment, we harvest all the honey, and we sell it. When I say “we,” it’s the royal we.
When you’re working with a beehive, you have to be pretty focused on what you’re doing so you don’t accidentally kill a lot of bees. I’m the kind of person who listens to music while I’m driving or taking a shower, but when I’m beekeeping, I can’t listen to music at all. I lose track of time really easily when I’m beekeeping. I can’t make promises like, “I’ll meet you for lunch at noon,” because I’ll start working with the bees, and I look at my watch and I missed my lunch date. I don’t know if it’s comparable to meditation, but I find it’s one of the best, most calming things that I can do with my time. If you were beekeeping, you would understand. v
