In the small town of Atlanta, Michigan, you will find Hayden Culham. Hayden is a 7-year-old little girl who happens to be a beekeeper.
In May, Hayden’s neighbors Randy and Jeanine McKenzie decided to start their own backyard colony with 12,000 honeybees and one queen bee. While they were setting up the hives, Hayden and her mom happened to be strolling by, and Hayden instantly was hooked. A week later, Hayden found a bee suit, and she was out with the McKenzies learning everything she could about the bees and the colony.
She checks on the beehives weekly, and after a few months, Hayden and the McKenzies adopted 20,000 more bees for another hive. After a summer of learning and taking care of the bees, it’s safe to say that Hayden has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to these special honeybees!
“They are just friendly, and they don’t want to sting, or they will die,” said Hayden.
While most kids back away when they see a bee, Hayden has no fear and says that someday she hopes to have her very own honeybees to care for.
“She’s learning very quickly about what to do. If you let her go, she knows what to do and in what order. It’s been really nice to be able to pass that on. I’m learning too so it’s nice to pass it on to her also,” said neighbor and beekeeper Jeanine McKenzie.