The Bees Knees
I had the great pleasure to speak with Queen Bee, Lisa Graham of YYC Beeswax and learned a lot about this sweet topic. The best part is I get to share our conversation with you through our podcast! Let's learn about urban farming, community enrichment, and sustainability together!
I had no idea how many products bees produced. My favorite had to be the bee's pollen. I loved how Lisa described the pollen traps as doormats for the bees. The pollen simply falls off of their feet as if they wiped their feet on a mat before entering their honeycomb home. I learned that the pollen comes in numerous colors and flavors depending on where the bees were feeding and which plants the bees were pollinating. This hour-long glimpse into the apiary world was just the beginning for me. I can't wait to learn more.
Since Graham is a soloprenuer (one person startup) we also had the chance to talk shop, and swap the pros and cons of being and entrepreneur, the challenges a startup offers, and the tools that have helped her shape and grow her company as well as manage the day to day operations.
Lisa's Favorite Tools:
Fivver Key Word Research - mentioned in the podcast
Books She's Loving (Lisa reads a lot! She's already up to 100 books for the year):
Profit First - Mike Michalowicz
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini
Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely - More psychology awesomeness!
Delivering Happiness - Tony Hsieh - Great read on creating communities
Bee Specific:
Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive - Mark L. Winston - So much amazing information on bees
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Hallucinogenic Honey - love this video!
Other online articles Lisa loves:
7 Million Dollar Habits of the Super Successful: - This article resonated with me when I read it and I review it about once a month to remind myself to keep doing some of the tasks and to modify/add in new habits.