Beekeeper
In my old days, as a photojournalist for the Palm Beach Post, I often went on exciting locations and met really interesting people. Today as a full-time food photographer, I still get to meet fascinating people, but the locations generally don’t get more exciting than kitchens. Which, don’t get me wrong, can be super exciting. But when you come from a profession who’s office once included murder scenes, the Florida everglades, helicopter rides, polo, or an occasional NFL field, sometimes tends to feel similar.
Don’t get me wrong at all – I have never, ever, ever been happier in my life. Being a food photographer is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I also fully appreciate that none of my chefs are going to kill me, eat me, run over me or stomp on me and break all my bones. It’s the little things.
Chef Andy
Still, I was pretty excited when the Boca Raton Resort and Club asked if I’d meet Chef Andy out at the local beekeeper and get some shots of the two of them with all of her bees. I was even more excited when I realized the days work included me inside a beekeeper outfit. I learned quickly as a young photojournalist that if your assignment for the day included protective clothing, you were pretty much guaranteed to have a good time.
Roxanne and chef Andy
The Boca Resort works with beekeeper Roxanne to bring in her amazing local honey at the resort. And everyone knows the medicinal, healing qualities of incorporating local honey into your diet. But they don’t stop there. Roxanne sets up the best displays, actually bringing down live bees to show the guests who come from conferences the life of a bee. During the breaks from their intensive meetings, the guests fuel up on healthy treats, including her local honey, then return to their meetings energized.
Roxanne is a dedicated beekeeper, fully committed to her bees or her “girls” as she calls them. The entire afternoon we spent with them, you could see the love and respect she has for her hive.
She was preparing them for a road trip – the day after our visit the girls were going out to California to
pollinate the almond fields for the summer. Then, they would be driven to Maine to work on the blueberry fields before returning to Florida.
Here in Florida, Roxanne and her bees create a wildflower orange honey as well as a Palmetto honey. The taste is rich and luxurious. I love to think of her bees playing out in California right now.
As far as me, I kept the beekeepers hat on for the first few hours, then eventually we all took ours off. As I explained to my husband later that night – you could tell the bees were interested and happy to have us there. They’d never seen a picnic in their field before.
I love bees. I’ve always loved what they can do and their contributions and I’ve always been worried about their extinction. It warms my heart to see Roxanne’s contributions and to see the Boca Resort doing so much as well by bringing in such a wonderful beekeeper.
And her honey…it’s truly amazing.
Roxanne and chef Andy
Bee Keeper photos for the Boca Resort and Club In my old days, as a photojournalist for the Palm Beach Post, I often went on exciting locations and met really interesting people.