Cherubic beeswax angels adorn a Christmas tree, left. Lewis uses special molds, some he made himself, to craft his ornaments, including a flying angel, above. The art of creating beeswax ornaments began in Germany in the 15th century.
After the bees pollinate the almonds, they turn to pollinating avocados and oranges. Lewis said what he likes about beekeeping is that it can be done on all scales—from the backyard novice with one or two hives to the professional with dozens or even hundreds of colonies. There is a risk, however. Lewis claims to have been stung 1,000 to 2,000 times in his lifetime, mostly when he’s not wearing a protective beekeeping suit. “It’s just part of the job,” he said. Though a beekeeper doesn’t earn as much as an aerospace engineer, Lewis prides himself on putting his two chi ldren through col lege and making a comfortable living. “To me, when I quit my high-paying job, it was scary,” he said, “but I think my quality of life is better.”
A beekeeper’s life Lewis’ days start at sunrise and often last 16 to 18 hours. He lives in a travel trailer in the San Gabriel Mountains Monday through Wednesday, tending to the bees and harvesting honey. He spends Thursdays and Fridays in the office or the warehouse, both near Long Beach. Each spring, Lewis loads 100-pound hives onto a f latbed truck so the bees can begin their of fsite pollination work. “We move them in their hives. We have four hives on a pallet, so we can lift them with a forklift and load them on a f latbed truck,” he said. To begin the pollination season, the bees are driven at dusk 3½ hours to Bakersf ield and unloaded into almond orchards. “The bees wake up in the morning and f ly out and say, ‘This all looks different.’ They know they’re in a different place. They start doing orientation f lights and start to recognize landmarks,” Lewis said.
Judy Farah jfarah@californiabountiful.com
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November/December 2020
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