I have been keeping bees since 2018. I got started when I attended a beekeeping class in the fall of 2017 and got my first hive the next spring. I think beekeeping appeals to me because it gives me a new perspective on things. Bees are a fantastic example of live and let live. I've stood in a swarm of bees in a shorts and a T-shirt, but the bees just bounced off of me. All of the times I've gotten stung it's been because a bee got inside of my clothes and felt trapped. More recently, my sting reactions have been getting worse, so I have to wear my suit while I'm working on the bees. 

In the image on the left, I am holding a section of comb, which in the summer would be used for brood (baby bees), but in mid-January is mostly full of honey and pollen. Its dark color is because brood darkens wax with waste products.

During the winter, hardly any new eggs are laid, and the lifespan of an individual bee can last for months. The bees form a tight ball inside of the hive, and shiver to keep themselves at about 80°F, regardless of the outside temperature. Just before the flowers bloom, the queen lays a ton of eggs and the workers raise the temperature of the hive to 90°F to allow the brood to grow. During the honey season, the lifespan of a worker bee goes from months to weeks, as the workers literally work themselves to death to support the hive. When the summer gets hot, bees coat the entrances to the hive and fan their wings to cool the inside of the hive. Around November, all the remaining bees retreat into their hive, and the cycle repeats again