The Bees Knees CARMICHAEL ARTIST HELPS BOLSTER LOCAL BEE POPULATION
I
f you see healthy bees happily flitting from flower to flower in Carmichael, Oscar Econome is probably partly to thank for that. The 20-year-old Carmichael resident has kept bees in his backyard since he was 14. What started as a hobby has grown into a small side business selling honey from his hives and educating neighbors about the benefits of bees. “I didn’t know a whole lot about bees when I started,” Econome says. It was his uncle, an avid beekeeper, who inspired his mom to buy him his first hive for his 14th birthday. “I started to do research online to learn more about how they work as a creature, how to care for them, how to take honey and about all of the different uses for the natural materials that come from a beehive.” Honeybees such as Econome’s produce honey, of course, which can aid in allergy prevention when ingested, as well as propolis, a resin-like mixture made of bee saliva and beeswax that has medicinal properties. To increase his output of honey to sell on social media, Econome bought 10 hives last spring, but he’s now down to one due to a seasonal swarm. Econome explains that hives tend to “swarm” in the spring— either to find a new place to live that has better food or to follow
Oscar Econome Photos by Linda Smolek
JL By Jessica Laskey Meet Your Neighbor
42
IES AUG
n
21
