Kirkobeeo started beekeeping in 1970 in Utah. He ordered his first package of bees from the Montgomery Ward catalog. Since then, he’s had beehives intermittently, but he always “loved those bugs!” In 1999, Kirk got the bee fever again. Since he now lived in Los Angeles in an apartment with no yard, he had to find a spot for a beehive. He located a nearby community garden and put a beehive in it. He discovered that beekeeping had gotten complicated since he last had beehives. It was expected that all sorts of chemicals and medications had to be put in beehives to handle mites and such. He disagreed with this idea. He knew it was much better to let the bees be bees. He researched beekeeping and found the writings of Charles Martin Simon, who talked about beekeeping backwards and small cell honeycombs. He also found Michael Bush and Dee Lusby, who practiced this same sort of beekeeping. He began handling his hives using these concepts. He had a couple of hives in the community garden, but he needed more room so he could start more hives. He borrowed a bright idea, put up a website and posted that he needed people to “sponsor a beehive” in their backyard. To his surprise, not only did he get sponsors, he also got people who said, “We don’t want to sponsor a hive, we want to become beekeepers!” He began teaching others small cell, backwards beekeeping. These new beekeepers formed the group Backwards Beekeepers  and started a Backwards Beekeepers Yahoo! group (which now has 650 members). Backwards Beekeepers in the LA area now number in the hundreds. Beekeepers in other parts of the country are also becoming Backwards Beekeepers. Currently, Kirk mentors new beekeepers, tends his 25 beehives and sells chemical-free honey whenever his bees supply it. Kirk’s Story copyright 2011 Kirk’s Urban Bees Kirkobeeo with his favorite cactus Kirk@kirksurbanbees.com   323-646-9651