beeswax

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

Tom and Laura chat about wood heat and how to be a good friend.

“We developed a friendship that transcended the bees. I was drawn to him because he was a man of character and I could see that. He had strong convictions and strong beliefs. He was about 10 years older than me. But even after the bees faded, one or the other of us would always make an effort to contact the other, maybe once a year, no more often than that, just to get together for a cup of coffee . . . "

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 readers and feeling vulnerable as a writer.

"Like beekeeping, writing is a solitary craft, and it is only in the final product that the value of my efforts can be judged. It passes from my hands to places unknown and unseen."

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 tracks a bear. Tom and Laura chat about pungent smells, cottonwood trees, and Colorado people.

"I grew up on Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers, and The Lone Ranger even though I lived in the midwest until I was 10. I love the West. I love the openness of the West. I love the wildness of the West."

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 and Laura Tyler chat about the bear problem that emerged for Boulder County beekeepers in 1989.

"Bears are cute, and fuzzy, and interesting if they’re in a tree in someone’s yard. But they’re not nearly so cute and fuzzy if they’re in your refrigerator, or tearing up your kitchen. It’s not fair to the bears what we’ve allowed them to get into."

Tom Theobald elaborates on beeswax. Tom and Laura chat about the little things in life that feel most important.

"While the snow flies outside, the candles remind us of all those small connections which enrich and bind our lives. And I think to myself that perhaps my contribution to the feast is not so insignificant after all."

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 and Laura Tyler chat about the nature of bears. Tom relays a story about a particularly skilled bear who raided numerous Boulder County beeyards.

"Beekeeping lore is filled with stories of marauding bears and the destruction they bring."

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

Laura Tyler remembers Tom Theobald. Tom and Laura laugh about beeyards and bears.

"The phone rang early on October 14th, a Sunday morning. It was Chet Anderson and at the sound of his voice, a chill crept up my spine. Now, it isn't that I don't enjoy talking to Chet; I do, but I suspected the reason for his call."

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 describes the bittersweet nature of fall. 

"I find a certain sense of sadness and melancholy on these last rounds. Hives which were tall and stately in July, now sit short and unobtrusive with the honey supers gone. The colonies are still strong and active on the warm afternoons, but there is little for them to work on and we both seem to sense that things are closing down."

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 and Laura Tyler chat about losing a beloved animal friend.

"In our relationships with our animals we search for some of the deeper meanings in life, for uncompromising friendship and trust, for permanence and honesty, for love."


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 and Laura Tyler chat about the old fashioned machinery of the honey house. Tom reveals the heart of his business as a beekeeper.

"Far above two contrails shine, catching the light of a sun now far below the horizon. One points southwest toward Los Angeles, the other northwest toward Seattle. In my mind's eye I see the chattering travelers, sipping cocktails as dinners are delivered, up near the moon it seems, and I am struck by the gulf which separates us. It is more than altitude and distance, both subtle and profound. They pursue their lives on the edge of the future, a high technology world from which I feel so far removed; I follow a life surviving from a distant past: one man, a few machines, plants, insects, and the vagaries of the seasons. In one brief moment of fading light I feel two disparate worlds brush by each other."


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 a road trip. Tom and Laura chat about the Meeker Classic and Australian Shepherds.

"We had picked up a bridge spike somewhere and were sinking ever so slowly as air bled from the right rear tire. Not wanting to change the tire unless I absolutely had to, I elected to try for Buford, thirty miles away. Sheep are being moved out of the high country now, and as luck would have it, we came upon a band of about 300 moving down the road. We crept through slowly as they parted like a school of wooly fish, hoping the air in the tire would outlast the sheep."

The Meeker Classic Sheepdog Championship Trials

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 describes the overwhelming aroma of honey. Tom and Laura chat about honey extracting tools.

"I always have a sense, when I use tools that belong to other people, that those tools have a spirit. Those tools have a story. They’re not just tools. They pass through the hands of the people who perhaps I once knew, who are now gone, and I feel a kinship."


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 takes stock of his annual honey harvest. Tom and Laura chat about a polite but tough question people ask about bees.

"I am frequently asked through the summer how the bees are doing and how the season looks. I always hesitate to make any predictions ..."


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 paints a picture of small town life gleaned from The Niwot Tribune. Tom and Laura chat about pace and the perspective shift that happens when you work with bees.

"Another entry appeared for June 22, 1939.  All it said was, "Sam Harvey and A.L. Newell motored to Sterling last Saturday." My first thought was, what a quaint way to describe a trip. When was the last time you motored anywhere? But then I realized that it was really more than quaint, it reflected a way of life, a pace from the past, a view of things that I have always found attractive and seductive."


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 and Laura Tyler chat about honey production. Tom describes two-queen beekeeping. Laura asks if two-queen beekeeping is practical with today’s bees.

"The beeyards look like city skyscrapers viewed from afar, like downtown Denver coming in form the north on I-25. Hardly noticeable in March as they sat nestled on the prairie, or tucked in beside a stream, each colony is now as high as my head, and the beeyards stand out clearly in the distance. The booming two-queen colonies require ample super room to prevent swarming and contain their large population, and a two-queen yard supered up for summer is a dramatic sight. When the flows begin even more supers will go on, until I can just reach the top with outstretched arms . . ."


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 and Laura Tyler chat about Western Kingbirds and the beauty of beekeeping. Tom explains “air conditioning at a price I can afford.”

"Through the binoculars I looked back from the river bluffs at the beeyard tucked in peacefully between the river and a small hayfield. The whole scene was wrapped protectively by the bluffs on one side, the trees along the stream on the other, and the foothills to the west. Through the air the fielders zipped, glinting like golden droplets in the last slanting rays of the sun . . ."

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