Notes from the Beeyard

Tom describes a near-perfect day in the beeyard. Laura asks, “Will there be a Season 2?”

“This beeyard has long been one of my favorites under any conditions, but on this particular day, it was absolutely mesmerizing. It's great to be a beekeeper, great to be alive.”

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald remembers his guiding days in the Flat Tops Wilderness. Tom and Laura chat about Lulu, miller moths and "bear" stew.

"Among the guests that evening, there were visions of steaming dishes filled with claws and hair and knowing glances shot between the regulars . . . "

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom tells an entertaining story. Tom and Laura chat about Notes from the Beeyard.

Like some reptiles, this critter feeds infrequently and Sunday is the day. A favorite of many of my friends, it holds a strange appeal for me as well, and yet I often find it intimidating, threatening, even dangerous. 

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald addresses pesticides. Tom and Laura chat about the challenges of keeping bees near agriculture.

“Our day is neither ending nor beginning, merely pausing as we enter the warm cafe for breakfast. We have been up since 2:00 A.M., closing in two yards of bees and after a good meal we will stop briefly at home . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald explains why it’s important to educate people about agriculture. Tom and Laura chat about the city mouse/country mouse situation in Boulder County, Colorado. 

“It’s easy to talk about the philosophy of farming. It’s more difficult to accept the economic restrictions that it brings. Particularly if you live in a county that’s adjacent to a metropolitan area . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald extolls an elegant solution. Tom and Laura chat about banking queens.

"I had a significant financial investment in these queens and I didn’t want any of those queens to fail because I didn’t get them into the colonies as quickly as I should . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald considers his place in the world. Tom and Laura chat about the Left Hand Grange and being part of a community. 

"Beekeeping is more than a profession. It was a profession for me, but it was more than that. It was an expression of my view of the world and my place in it . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom acknowledges the promise of spring and makes a dire prediction.

"The promises aren’t always realized, but that’s what we build our lives on. The promise that when we plant things, they’re going to come up, and we’ll have enough water for them to mature . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald tells a story about a chicken tending dog named Pye. Tom and Laura chat about parental feelings.

"I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when we opened in the incubator. But clearly Pye’s interest in these chicks was as a protector . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom and Laura chat about nesting birds, wrens, bluebirds, and native bee boxes.

"Anyone who is familiar with wrens knows that in the hot afternoons, when the rest of the birds are sulking in the shade, the house wrens are singing their hearts out . . . “

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom speaks from the heart. Laura invites you to share your favorite episodes with your friends.

"It’s my life. These stories are the essence of my life.“

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom recalls a shimmer of bluebirds in the Flat Tops Wilderness. Tom and Laura chat about a well lived life.

"In the distance, through a driving snow, a haze of blue appeared against a snowfield, then faded out of sight. Light sheet lightning in a fog, the ghostly blue cloud dogged my path . . . “

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom and Laura chat about the pain of losing old friends and the beauty of working with bees.

"About halfway through the morning I took a break on the tailgate of the old Ford. As I sat there one of the many foragers in the air landed on my hand and proceeded to walk across my bare skin, probing here and there with its tiny tongue . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald hatches an eccentric idea. Tom and Laura chat about the oldest beeyard in Boulder County.

"I thought back to an ad I had seen for a golf chair. It was a one legged affair, like a giant golf tee, and it strapped to your waist. . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald itches to get his hands dirty. Tom and Laura chat about Front Range soil.

"I want soil so rich and friable that I can dip my hand in up to the elbow, soil that crumbles at the touch . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom and Laura chat about pain and bee stings. 

“I’ve had situations where I’ve had thousands of bees trying to drive me out of the beeyard and took between 750 and 1000 stings in about 15 minutes. I should have been horrified by that, but I found it very interesting . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald observes a shift. Tom and Laura chat about what it feels like watch the seasons turn. 

"On the 29th of January I went out to do the morning chores. I looked into the chicken coop for the first time in several days to check the feed, and there, half buried in the winter accumulation of litter lay four eggs, dirty, cracked and frozen, the first of the season. In their ugliness they were as beautiful as any spring flower, a symbol of winter's waning, a simple, elemental, earthy reminder that spring is on the way."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald comments on the special bond between mothers and children.

"My behavior as a parent is not nearly as ferocious as what I saw in Barbara. I mean, ultimately I might have been just as ferocious, but there’s a special bond between mothers and their offspring. It doesn't matter if you’re a human, a pig, or a mother cow, there’s a very special bond . . ."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom and Laura chat about what you can learn about life from watching roosters.

“He was no longer was willing to settle with being second fiddle. He had determined that he was going to be in charge, or he was going to be dead."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani

Tom Theobald remembers working with chickens as a young boy.

“We didn't invite them in for dinner or anything like that, but we learned their individual personalities, saw their social interactions, and discovered their quirks and foibles."

CREDITS
Producer: Laura Tyler
Author: Tom Theobald
Editor: Andy Schwarz
Music: "Americana" and "Sonorus" by Mr Smith are licensed under CC by 4.0
Logo Design: Janet Cerretani